


Camp Swan

by bookworm2017



Category: Sanders Sides
Genre: Anxiety, Bullying, Camp AU, Friendship, Gen, Human AU, Swearing, neglet, some homophobic slurs
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-05
Updated: 2018-06-24
Packaged: 2019-01-29 23:51:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 28,544
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12641823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bookworm2017/pseuds/bookworm2017
Summary: Virgil hates camping. He especially hates summer camp. There's too many happy counselors. Campers pretend to like him, but then turn around and shove him into the lake when the adults aren't looking. His roommates hate him, and he comes to find out that his parents just wanted him out of the way so they could go on their own vacation.  He doesn't want to admit that the food isn't that bad, or that the activities are actually pretty fun. Or that his roommates aren't actually the worst. And some of the counselors aren't that bad...But summer camp is still the worst.





	1. Arrival

Originally posted on my Tumblr, sanders-specs 

Virgil’s parents hated him. They must have if they were sending him to this horrid summer camp. it was to ‘get outside and enjoy the fresh air’ they told him. ‘to make you appreciate the world outside that bedroom of yours.’   
Well that was easy for them to say. They didn’t know just how much his bedroom was a safe haven for him and they were forcing him out of it for three whole months. It would be amazing if he lasted a week without having some kind of breakdown. He’d begged and begged his parents not to make him go, that he would spend the whole summer working or something if they wanted him to but they had been stubborn about him going.   
So here he stood outside Camp Swan, looking up at the faded sign with the camp’s name on it, a white swan painted next to it. All around him, kids of all ages were saying goodbye to their parents, meeting up with old friends. They all seemed so…excited. He didn’t see one person who looked as miserable as he did. Then again, usually there were few people who are as miserable as he was.   
His mother had dropped him off and left him without so much as an ‘I love you’ which Virgil was okay with. His family wasn’t exactly the touchy-feely type. He was used to it. Though it did leave him stranded for a while until the camp counselors rounded them all up. Virgil retreated to a shaded, empty spot by some trees and put his headphones on (he swore, if this was one of those no electronics camp, he was going to throw a fit) so he could tune everyone out.   
The thing about Camp Swan was that it was an all-ages camp. From the research he’d done (he needed to know everything he could about it so he knew how to properly prepare himself for what to expect) there were different spots in camp that were sectioned off for certain ages, but in their down time all the kids could interact with each other. As a result of this, though, some of these kids had been going to Camp Swan for years, so of course they already knew other people. Just was Virgil needed, to be the odd one out.   
Not that that was weird. At school he was the loaner. The guy no one ever wanted to talk to or hang out with. Why would he expect this camp to be any different?   
For a while, Virgil just let the music block everything out. He paid no attention to the kids around him, didn’t even bother to try to mingle. Just the thought made his chest tighten and his throat close up. He didn’t know how he was going to get through the summer sharing a room with other guys.   
Eventually, he noticed someone in a counselor uniform—a green polo shirt and khaki shorts—standing on a platform and holding a megaphone. Virgil removed half of his headphone to listen.   
“Campers!” the too-preppy counselor called into the megaphone. “If you are finished saying goodbye to your families, please make your way to the pavilion where you will receive your cabin assignments. In your cabins you will find your itinerary for the week. And lastly, welcome to Camp Swan! We’re going to have a great summer!”   
God, they sounded like a recorded message, Virgil thinks, rolling his eyes and picking up his duffle bag. He followed several kids making their way to the pavilion the counselor talked about, shoving his headphones around his neck with a sigh. If he didn’t have them on, maybe they would go unnoticed.   
There were several lines of kids getting their cabin assignments. Virgil tried to ignore the crowd pressing in on him as he made his way to the nearest line. He stuck his free hand into his pocket, discreetly messing with his fidget cube to focus his energy. He hated crowds. They always made him feel insignificant and small. And alone. Especially alone.   
“Hello, welcome to Camp Swan!” the counselor says. “What’s your name sweetie?”   
Virgil cringed internally. In no way was it okay for some stranger to call him ‘sweetie’ he wasn’t even sure he’d let anyone call him that.   
Fighting the urge to roll his eyes or run and hide, he told them, and they looked through the list in front of them. “Oh it looks like you’re in cabin thirteen. Here’s your map of the camp and instructions on anything you might need in case there’s an emergency. Your assigned counselor will answer any questions you have.”   
“Thanks,” Virgil says, taking the pieces of paper and stepping out of line, eager to get out of the big crowd. He maneuvered to the edge of it, following the map towards the cabin. Around him other campers were running up to their cabins, calling greetings to their friends.   
Looking at the map for the fifteen to seventeen section of the cabins, there were two rows of cabins on a path, one for girls and one for guys.   
He stopped in front of cabin thirteen. It was smaller, one of the smaller cabins, he noticed. It was made out of wood—as expected—with a wide front porch and a few steps leading up the dark green door. There was a silhouette of a swan with the number thirteen on it nailed to the door. Virgil glanced into the two front windows, trying to see if there was anyone inside, but the cabin seemed to be still.   
Gripping his bag, Virgil took a few moments to convince himself to actually go into the cabin.


	2. Meeting the Roommates

Originally poster on my Tumblr, sanders-specs 

“Are you lost?”   
Virgil jumped at the sudden voice. He looked over and saw a boy his age watching him. The boy was dressed smartly, khaki shorts, button down shirt and a blue tie. Usually Virgil would call this the entitled-rich-white-boy look, but this kid did not carry himself with the cocky, better-than-everyone-else persona that Virgil associated with this look. The large black framed glasses probably had something to do with it as well. He raked Virgil with a calculated look that made him feel slightly uncomfortable.   
“Umm,” Virgil says just then registering what the kid had said. “No, this is my cabin.”   
“Then why are you just staring at it?” the kid asks, not sounding mocking or weirded out just…curious. It was like he really couldn’t fathom any reason for Virgil to just be standing outside his own cabin.   
The last thing Virgil wanted to do was explain himself to this kid, so he just shook his head. “No reason,” he mutters, readjusting the straps of his bag in his hand and walking up the steps to the cabin.   
“There’s a reason for everything, so I find it hard to believe that anyone does anything for ‘no reason,’” the kid says, walking up behind him. “This is my cabin as well, just so you know.” he adds when Virgil gives him a confused look.  
Virgil sighed. Great. Just what he needed. A curious kid who couldn’t take a hint living in the same space as him.   
The inside of the cabin was busier than it had seemed like on the outside. He could hear people moving around, other boys talking and laughing. There was an open space in the center of the cabin with couches and tables, the ‘lounge’ Virgil assumed, and there were doors on either side of the lounge, all of them propped open. In the lounge, there were two people sitting back on the couches. They stood when Virgil and the other kid walked in.   
“Here they are,” one of the men says. He was average height with light brown hair and brown eyes. He wore the same outfit as the counselors from before—the green polo, khaki shorts, tennis shoes—though he wore a nametag. Thomas S. it read. “Logan, good to see you again. How’ve you been buddy?”   
This was addressed to the kid next to Virgil, who gave a slight smile to the counselor. “Hello Thomas. I have been well, though I have to say that the downsize in cabin is less than satisfactory.” This he said with a distasteful look around the cabin.   
“Yeah, well guess we drew the short straw this year,” Thomas says apologetically. “But the cabins are just a place to sleep. All the fun will happen during the activities.”  
“I suppose,” Logan says, though he looked doubtful.   
Thomas smiled and patted Logan on the shoulder before turning to Virgil. “And I guess you’re one of our newer campers. Welcome to Camp Swan! My name’s Thomas and I’ll be your head counselor this summer. You can come to me for just about anything you can think of. I see you’ve already met Logan,” he motions to the kid. “Which is good since you’ll be spending the summer together.”   
Virgil shifted uncomfortably at the slightly too enthusiastic attitude. “Umm…hi,” he mutters.   
Not deterred, Thomas turns to the other man, who’s holding a clipboard. “Let’s see which room you two are in.” he says. “What’s your name newbie?”   
“Virgil,” he mutters, keeping his head ducked. He was starting to grow uncomfortably warm in his hoodie as Thomas kept addressing him.  
“Ah yes, it looks like you two are going to be roommates,” Thomas says, as if this is a good thing.   
Grreeaattt.   
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Logan sizing him up. “I think that will be satisfactory.”   
“Glad I meet your standards,” Virgil muttered.   
“Come on, I’ll introduce you your other roommates and then I’ll let you two get settled in,” Thomas says. “Terry, you got the rest?”   
Terry gives a thumbs up as Thomas led them away. Logan follows their counselor without hesitation, back straight. Virgil saw that there were several buttons and pins on Logan’s backpack, all of them having some kind of nerdy image or phrase on them.   
Sighing, Virgil followed suit, fidgeting with his cube the whole way. Thomas lead them to the second door all the way in the back of the cabin. He pushed it open, and the voices of two other boys was immediately present, though they stopped when the door opened. Virgil looked into the room and felt his stomach churn.   
There were two sets of bunk beds, the tops of both having been taken, making an L shape against two walls. The other wall was two closets, each then divided into two spaces. The room was already a mess, clothes and stuffed animals strewn about. A set of what looked like teddy bear curtains were covering the window, and it looked as if glow-in-the dark stars had been stuck to the ceiling. As a matter of fact, the two other boys seemed to be in the middle of sticking them on. One of them—a boy in a light blue shirt with a cat on it and cargo shorts—was sitting on the shoulders of the other boy, who had on a red t-shirt with a white button down open over it and jean shorts. The white button down was tilting back and forth, trying to stay steady with the other boy on his shoulders.   
They both froze when the door opened and Thomas, Logan, and Virgil all walked in. Thomas sighed, crossing his arms and shaking his head while Logan and Virgil just stared.   
“Oh hello,” white button down says with a smile that was trying too hard to be casual.   
“Roman, Patton, what on earth are you doing?” Thomas asks.   
“Making the room more fun!” cat shirt exclaims, throwing up his arms and making button up teeter a little. Virgil saw Thomas tense in the corner of his eye and start to move towards them—to possibly catch cat shirt if he fell, Virgil didn’t know.   
Beside him, Logan sighs and readjusts his glasses. “Why didn’t you just get a chair? With Roman’s height alone it would have been enough.”  
“Logan!” cat shirt exclaimed. “Hey, I didn’t know we’d be cabinmates this year.”   
“Yes, nor did I,” Logan says, sounding a little like he wished this fact wasn’t true.   
“Okay, just, Patton get down, please, before both of you end up getting hurt,” Thomas says, sounding exasperated.   
“Okie dokie artichokie!” cat shirt—Patton—says and him and who Virgil assumed was Roman went through the awkward process of getting Patton on his feet. Once he was safely on the ground—and Thomas was breathing normally again—he turned to Logan and opened his arms.   
“Come on kiddo, give me a hug!”   
Logan looked like he wanted to do anything but that, but he indulged Patton in an awkward hug. Patton didn’t seem deterred from it, though, and immediately turned to Virgil. “And you’re new!” he exclaims, like this is the greatest news he’d received all day. “Well aren’t you just so lucky to have Thomas as your first counselor, he’s the best.”   
“I’m flattered,” Thomas says with an amused smile. He turns to Virgil. “Logan, Virgil, meet your roommates, Roman and Patton.”   
“Virgil! What a cool name. Is it from the Renaissance? It sounds like the name of an ancient ruler!” Patton exclaims.   
Virgil immediately wanted to turn around and walk out of the room. Patton’s brightness was too much and he’d only spoken a few sentences to him. Roman hadn’t even opened his mouth and Virgil already felt tired at the thought of talking to him.   
“I’ll let you guys get settled in,” Thomas says, backing towards the door. “The opening assembly is in about two hours so you’ve got enough time to unpack,” this he addresses to Virgil and Logan. Logan nods but Virgil just keeps his head down, stepping aside as Thomas leaves the room.   
“Well,” Roman says, clapping his hands together. The sound was so loud and sudden that it made Virgil flinch, though the others didn’t seem to notice. “Patton and I have already claimed the top bunks, so sorry about that. Well, not really,” he says with an easygoing smile.   
“I much prefer the bottom bunk anyway,” Logan says, walking to the bed that had a red sheet over the matrass and a silver pillow. He set his things down, glancing over at Virgil. “Will this arrangement be satisfactory?”   
Virgil just gives a tight nod before walking over to the free bunk. He slings his duffle bag onto it and sits down, making himself as small as possible. The other boys were talking freely, ignoring his presence. Patton was telling Roman how he’d known Logan since their first year at camp, when they were six, and that they’d been camp buddies ever since. Logan was silent on the subject, simply unpacking his clothes and putting them neatly in one of the free closets.   
Virgil pulled out his phone, almost groaning when he saw that he didn’t get any single here. He couldn’t say that he was surprised, just disappointed.   
“Camp Swan intentionally blocks cellphone signals,” Logan’s voice comes, drawing Virgil’s attention to him, as well as cutting off Patton’s story. The other boys looked at Virgil, who scowled and slid his phone into his pocket. “That’s why they don’t have a no electronic policy,” Logan goes on. “There’s no use in it.”   
“Didn’t you do any research before you came here?” Roman asks, probably meaning to sound teasing but somehow sounding more…mocking in Virgil’s ears.   
“Of course I did,” Virgil sneered. “I have to know what hell I’m being subjected to the whole summer.”   
All three boys froze in surprise. Virgil saw them glance at each other before Logan straightened, readjusting his glasses. “On what grounds are you saying that camp will be hell, as you put it?” he asks.   
“Please,” Virgil scoffs, “it’s summer camp. Happy go lucky kids singing campfire songs and roasting marshmallows acting like the world around them isn’t crumbling and fake-ass counselors pretending to be your friend even though they probably hate everyone by the second day. Are we going to be forced to make macaroni necklaces too?”   
“Well aren’t you just a Debby Downer?” Roman mutters under his breath as Patton and Logan continue to just stare at Virgil like he’d grown a third head.   
Eventually, Logan shifted and cleared his throat. “If you have those kinds of views on our camp, then why are you here?”   
Virgil threw himself back on his bed and put his headphones on. “Because my parents hate me,” he says before turning on the music he had saved to his phone and blocking out any other conversation.


	3. Getting To Know Each Other

Orginally posted on my Tumblr

“Well,” Roman says as the new kid blocked them all out, “he’s going to be a joy to room with, isn’t he?”   
Logan sighs. “It seems that we have a troublemaker as a roommate, yes.”   
“Now, now, I think he just doesn’t understand how great camp is just yet,” Patton says, speaking for the first time since Virgil ridiculed his favorite place on earth. “Give him some time and he’ll come around.”   
“I don’t know,” Roman says doubtfully. “People like him never seem like the type to just ‘come around.’”  
“Nevertheless,” Logan says, turning back to his thing to continue unpacking. “We shan’t let Virgil’s negative attitude damper our camp experience. Roman, I understand that this is your third year here, yes?”   
“Yep!” Roman says proudly. “Though this is my first time meeting you.”   
“Oh you’ll love Lo!” Patton exclaims. “He’s so smart, he knows just about everything.”   
“If I knew everything then I would have at least a dozen Nobel Peace Prizes at this point in my life,” Logan says, “as well as a cure for all illnesses. As great as that would be, it is, in fact, false.”   
“But you are smart,” Patton says.   
“Yes, that is a correct statement.” Logan puts the last of his clothes into his closet and turns to Roman. “I suppose we should get the annoying, frivolous questions out of the way. Why do you enjoy coming to Camp Swan?”   
Roman blinked at him, glancing at Patton for help but Patton was just sitting and staring at Roman curiously, like he was wondering the same thing. “I’m not sure I know what you mean.”   
“Well for instance,” Logan says, “I come because the particular forest that the camp is located is home to many species of plants that I would not have a chance to study through the rest of the year. I’ve been studying them every year since my first year and have been documenting their changes as our planet’s climate has changed. The camp provides the necessary resources for studying them as well, which is handy.”   
“And I’m here because I love it!” Patton exclaims.   
“Yes it seems that Patton enjoys the togetherness that Camp Swan brings,” Logan says with a slightly exasperated sigh. “I can’t say I understand, however I don’t judge him for it.”   
“So what about you Roman? What does Camp Swan mean to you?” Patton asks.   
“Ah,” Roman says, looking as if he understood better. “I come because it gives me a chance to work on all of my talents. Singing, acting, dancing…well okay I’m still working on the dancing part. Plus their equestrian training is fantastic!”   
Logan had to admit that he was slightly impressed that Roman knew the word equestrian, though if anyone would be apt at horseback riding, it looked to be Roman. The other boy looked to be in fair shape, with big biceps that strained against his shirt showing that he worked out. Logan could also see through the tight t-shirt that Roman probably had what was known as a toned stomach as well. It distantly occurred to him to wonder just why Roman insisted on wearing clothing that was just a bit too tight. It did not seem comfortable.   
“Look I know I’m handsome but you don’t have to stare,” Roman says.   
Logan blinks. Had he been staring? He supposed that he must have, if Roman seemed to have thought so. “My apologies,” Logan says. “I was simply wondering why you would not wear better fitting clothes. We are at a camp after all, wouldn’t you want to be as comfortable as possible?”   
Roman stared at him for a moment, then burst out laughing. Frowning, Logan looks at Patton who seemed to be trying to hide a smile. “What? What did I say?”   
Roman just kept laughing. He clapped a hand on Logan’s shoulder. “Man, Patton said you were smart, he didn’t tell me you were funny too.”   
“I was not trying to be,” Logan says, shrugging off Roman’s hand. The other boy didn’t look offended, he just grinned at Logan.   
“To me, this is comfortable,” Roman says, showing off his muscles that strained against his clothing. “It’s snug but not too snug, you know?”   
Logan sighs and shakes his head. “I do not, but I suppose I will have to take your word for it.”   
“Logan likes his facts,” Patton informs Roman. “He likes things to be straightforward.”   
“Then I will respect that!” Roman declares, sounding for all the world like a royal. “or try to,” he adds in a calmer voice.   
Patton sat on the floor, grabbing one of his nearby plushies and hugging it to his chest. He looks at Virgil, who still had his back to the rest of them, seeming to either not care about the conversation or not hearing it. “Do you think he meant what he said?” Patton wonders aloud. “That his parents hate him?”   
“Oh please,” Roman says with a laugh. “Teenagers like him think that world is against them. honestly they’re a pain to deal with.”   
Patton frowns. “Well something must make them feel that way.”   
“Perhaps,” Logan says, knowing that it was futile to convince Patton of anything less. “However, we cannot force him to tell us anything he does not want to. Nor can we force him to enjoy camp. It will have to be up to him.”   
Patton sighs a defeated sigh, but he nods. “You’re right as always Lo.” Patton turns his attention back to the ceiling. “Hey Roman, we haven’t finished the stars!”   
“Right,” Roman jumps to his feet, gathering the stars they still had left to stick to the ceiling and walls.   
Sighing, Logan turns towards the door. “I’ll get a chair.” 

After a few hours, Thomas came back by the room to find Patton, Logan, and Roman all sitting on the ground in the middle of a game of Uno and Virgil lying on his bed, eyes closed and headphones on.   
“Hey guys,” Thomas says. He points to Virgil, eyebrows creased. “Why didn’t you invite Virgil to play with you?”   
“We did but Dr. Gloom and Doom seems to be too good for us,” Roman says, rolling his eyes dramatically.   
Not really knowing what to say to that, Thomas just changes the subject. “O-Okay then. Anyway, the assembly is starting soon so we should all head over.”   
The boys all nodded and stopped the game, even though Roman was complaining that he was just about to win (Thomas had seen that he had the most cards out of everyone, but even Roman’s roommates didn’t seem to want to correct him) and the three of them walked past Thomas and into the lounge. Thomas frowns, looking into the room where Virgil was still lying. It didn’t even look like he’d unpacked.   
“Aren’t you guys going to get Virgil?” Thomas asks.   
“He made it very clear that he wants nothing to do with us and to leave him alone,” Logan says matter-of-factly. “We are simply answering his request.”   
Thomas frowns disapprovingly at them and looks at Patton. The more kind-hearted boy shifted uncomfortably on his feet, avoiding Thomas’s gaze. It was clear that he felt guilty, but the fact that he wasn’t countering Logan’s statement meant that he agreed.   
Thomas sighs, putting his hands on his hips. “Look guys, we’re not going to get anywhere this summer if you exclude your roommate. It’s just going to make things miserable for everyone.”   
The boys all slump, but Patton sighs and walks back into the room to retrieve Virgil.

Virgil stood in the back of the crowd, playing with his fidget cube as he watched the head of the camp, Joan they told the campers to call them, talking about all the different activities at the camp and how they would all rotate throughout the summer. Virgil wasn’t really listening. He was too focused on not focusing on how close he was being forced to stand to complete strangers. Thomas stood behind him, his arms crossed like some kind of officer making sure that the prisoners didn’t try to run for it. Virgil had to admit that he thought about it, but where would he go?   
He couldn’t see his other roommates anywhere, as they had run off as soon as they’d gotten there, but that was probably for the better. He’d snapped at them enough earlier. Every time Patton tried to get him to play a game with them or talk with them, he’d snap. Every time Roman was being obnoxiously loud—so loud that he penetrated the bliss Virgil’s music provided—he snapped. He didn’t know how he was going to be able to get through the summer with those two. At least Logan seemed to understand when someone wanted to be left alone.   
“Alright, I think that about does it!” Joan says. “Now is time to get some grub! Head on to the mess hall.”   
The crowd dispersed, and Virgil turned. Thomas was still standing there, looking down at him. “Care to go get something to eat?” he asks.   
Virgil rolls his eyes. “You don’t have to lead me around like a lost puppy. I’ll just follow the crowd.”   
Thomas gives Virgil a smile he knew all too well. It was a smile that said he was close to losing his patience with Virgil but he had to be nice so he was going to smile through the pain. “Alright, be sure to be back at the cabin by sundown.”   
Virgil just nodded and started following the flow of the crowd. Usually finding the source of food was easy, because that’s where everyone always gathered. It was the same for any animal in the animal kingdom, humans no exception.   
As he was walking, though, he heard someone behind him laugh just a bit too loud for it to be conspicuous. “Who plays with one of those things unless they’re a fucking child?” someone said.   
Virgil glanced over and saw a boy about a foot taller than him with long brown hair that reached his shoulders and a mischievous smirk on his lips. He was looking right at Virgil, or rather at the fidget cube in his hand.   
Scowling, Virgil turns away from him, shoving the cube into his pocket. The last thing he wanted to do was to deal with morons. He just wanted to get something to eat and disappear into his cabin as soon as possible.   
A hand came down on his shoulder, stopping him. “Hey, faggot,” the boy says, “got any more of those sissy cubes? You know they say not to bring anything unless you want to share with the class.”   
“Get out of my face,” Virgil growls.   
The boy raises his eyebrows. “What did you just say to me?”   
“I said get out of my fucking face,” Virgil says, yanking himself out of the boy’s grip. “and get a life. The only childish one here is you.”   
No one around them seemed to notice or care about the exchange, not that Virgil was surprised. No one ever care about losers like himself. The boy reached out and grabbed his shirt, pulling him close. “No one talks to me that way,” he growls.   
“First time for everything then,” Virgil says, not backing down.   
The boy’s eyes narrowed, and he shoved Virgil back so hard that he fell on his ass in the damp mud. The boy stood over him, glaring. Before Virgil knew what was happening, the boy’s good connected with Virgil’s ribs.   
“That’ll teach you to talk back to me, you emo fag,” the boy says spitting on Virgil’s arm. He walked off, leaving Virgil on the ground.   
Rubbing his sore ribs, Virgil picked himself up, the whole situation coming back to him. He felt his limbs shaking, his breathing becoming sparse. He looked around, but he was alone. Everyone else had disappeared in the mess hall. He looked at the now crowded building and shook his head. He couldn’t go in there, not looking like this. It would just make that boy feel even better, and probably make Virgil the butt of a lot of jokes. No he couldn’t go in there. He’d just eat breakfast in the morning. He didn’t need food tonight.   
So Virgil turned and forced himself to walk back to his cabin. He needed to be alone. He needed to change. He needed to be free of this fucking camp.


	4. Cabin Confrontation

Originally posted on my Tumblr 

“So I told them that they couldn’t just waltz into the theater whenever they wanted to,” Roman says, “I mean no show is free, but rehearsals are sacred. Having outsiders in there watching us is just so vulnerable.” 

“Hey guys,” Thomas says, interrupting Roman’s story. The three roommates looked up at their counselor. 

“Heya Thomas, how are you doing?” Patton asks. 

“I’m good Patton,” he says, though it was clear that he wasn’t. Thomas kept glancing around the mess hall, as if he were looking for someone. 

“What can we do for you Thomas?” Logan asks. 

“Have any of you seen Virgil?” Thomas asks. 

“Ugh,” Roman says, rolling his eyes and going back to his food, uninterested. 

“No,” Patton says. “I don’t think we’ve seen him since we left the cabin.” 

“Did you not walk with him, Thomas?” Logan asks, his eyebrows furrowed. 

Thomas worries his lip. “I was with him at the assembly, but he said he’d come here on his own. To follow to crowd.” 

“Well that would be the logical thing to do, but perhaps he got lost?” Logan offers. 

Thomas shakes his head. “I just hope he gets something to eat…”

“Maybe the little rascal just went back to the cabin,” Patton says, standing. “I’ll go back and check to see if he’s there.” 

Thomas smiles. Since he was a counselor, he had to stay in order to keep an eye on the campers. “Thanks Patton.” 

Patton salutes him, and starts off towards his cabin, humming happily to himself. Camp Swan was always the best part of his year. He got to see all of his old camp friends, campers and counselors alike. He got to enjoy a summer of sun and fun, which was truly the best way to spend one’s summer. Sure he might have a bit of a Debby downer as a roommate, but he was sure that after a few weeks of being at camp would change the little guy’s mind. Everyone loved Camp Swan! They had activities for everyone. Virgil was sure to find one that he enjoyed. 

Patton skipped up the steps to his cabin and threw open the door. “Virgil?” He calls, walking towards their room. “Hey kiddo, are you in here?”  
He opened the door to their room and froze for a moment. The room had been cleaned, at least as much as was possible with everything each boy had. The Uno game was left untouched on the floor, but each bed was made, including Virgil’s. The younger boy had purple sheets and a black pillow case, a black and purple checkered blanket. The remaining closet was now filled with an assortment of black, purple, and red clothing. Wow. Virgil really liked black and purple. His shoes were lined up perfectly under his clothes, two pairs of sneakers and a pair of flip flops. 

Patton’s and Roman’s beds had been made, Patton’s stuffed animals having been arranged neatly on his bed. Roman’s CD player, Logan’s books, and both his and Patton’s glasses cases were set neatly on the end table that separated the two bunks. Everyone’s duffel bags or suit cases had been tucked under their respective bunk bed neatly. Logan’s pin covered backpack was set carefully in his closet, Roman’s pin covered lanyard was hanging from the post of his and Logan’s bunk bed.  
All of their seemingly random accessories that had been scattered everywhere before now had a place. As Patton looked around, though, the only thing that even showed a fourth person lived in this room was Virgil’s sheets and barely full closet. His headphones and phone were thrown onto his bed, but otherwise the other boy had made his space in the room, and it was small. 

Frowning, Patton walks over to his and Virgil’s bunk bed and climbed up to his bunk, sorting through his stuffed animals. He was careful not to mess up the arrangement Virgil had done as he looked for the black and purple dragon. He smiled when he found it, plucking it out of the back of the pile. It was meant to be Maleficent’s dragon form from Sleeping Beauty, but Patton always liked to consider it its own thing. He’d renamed it Mal, and like to think that it was a nice dragon who flew around helping people. Climbing down, he set Mal on Virgil’s bed, even made it to look like Mal was listening to music on Virgil’s headphones. 

Smiling at his work, Patton turned and walked out of the room, heading for the bath room. He knocked on it, just to be safe. “Virgil?” he calls. He could hear someone in the bathroom, but since there was another group of boys who was sharing their cabin in the room next door, he didn’t know if it would be his missing roommate. “Virge? Is that you?” 

“Who is it?” Virgil’s voice comes. 

Patton felt relief wash over him. “It’s Patton kiddo! Thomas was worried when you didn’t show up for dinner. What are you doing here all by yourself?” 

There was a beat of silence before the door swung open, revealing a wet haired Virgil. He’d changed from the previous black jeans and long sleeve shirt to a pair of black pajama pants and a grey t-shirt. His purple dyed hair was messy, and he wasn’t wearing the makeup like before. He seemed almost…younger without it. 

“I wasn’t hungry,” Virgil says, pushing past Patton towards their room. 

Patton followed him, his eyebrows furrowed. “You should still eat something kiddo. The drive to Camp Swan is a long one.” 

Virgil stopped and turned to Patton, blocking the doorway of their room. “Look, I appreciate the gesture, but you don’t have to be nice to me. And don’t’ call me kiddo when we’re pretty much the same age.” His voice was harsh, unyielding. Patton took a step back in surprise at his tone. Virgil fixed him with a glare. “This summer will be better for everyone if we just stay on our separate sides and you leave me alone. Got it?” 

With that, he pushed off the doorframe and into the room. “Go back to your happy little meal and enjoy your happy little camp fire. I don’t want any part of it.”  
Patton, too shocked to really know what to do, just backed away from the room. Then he turned, blinking back the sudden tears in his eyes, and stormed out of the cabin. 

Virgil flinched when the cabin door slammed shut. He sighed, sitting down on the edge of his bed. It was for the better, he told himself. The less they cared about him, the better. All he ever did was bring trouble. Maybe if they all hated him, he could keep them from getting bullied by being associated with him.   
He runs a hand through his still wet hair, looking over at the dragon that had obviously been placed on his bed. Patton had gone to great measures to adjust Virgil’s headphones around the dragon, even going as far as to play the music Virgil had paused on his phone. 

Virgil reached out and gently untangled the dragon from the headphones, turning it around in his hands. Then he put the headphones on and lied back, staring up at Patton’s bed above his own, keeping the dragon tucked against his side.


	5. Archery Practice

The next morning was the official start to camp. They had a full day of activities planned, and Virgil was not looking forward to it. He’d overheard Thomas say something about archery when he’d been coming back from the bathroom. Who on earth thought that it was a good idea to get a bunch of teenagers together with a bunch of weapons? It had disaster written all over it.

As he was walking back to his room, he passed Patton, who very clearly turned his head away from Virgil, presumably to keep from having to look at him. Virgil felt his chest tighten, but he gritted his teeth and walked on, refusing to let his guilt get the better of him. When he got to his room, however, his other two roommates were waiting for him.  
Roman was leaning against his bunk, arms crossed. Logan was standing by the window, looking spaced out about something. He straightened when Virgil walked in, headed for his shoes.

“Virgil, Roman and I must speak with you for a moment,” Logan says.

Virgil glances between the two of them. “What do you want?”

“We want to know what you said to Patton last night to make him so upset,” Roman says. “he came back to dinner crying but wouldn’t tell us why, then we get back and see you’ve stolen one of his stuffies!” he holds up the stuffie in question, waving it for emphasis.

Virgil finishes lacing up his shoes before he turns a glare onto Roman. “I didn’t steal it, Princey,” Virgil says, “it was on my bed last night.”

“Then it fell and you kept it instead of rightfully putting it back on Patton’s bed!” Roman exclaims.

“Roman, please—” Logan starts, but Roman was on a roll.

“Were you going to just keep it instead of returning it? Do you really think we wouldn’t notice you sleeping with it?” Roman asks, matching Virgil’s glare. “And what’s with you calling me Princey?”

Virgil rolls his eyes at that last question. “I didn’t steal anything,” he spits at the other boy. “I’m not stupid. As for the nickname, I can already tell that you’re going to be a royal pain in my ass, so I felt a nickname was in order.”

“Virgil,” Logan cuts in before Roman could offer a retort. “We simply wish to ensure that we won’t have to worry about our own possessions. Surely you can understand that.”  
Virgil ignored the hurt he felt. Of course they wouldn’t trust him. Why would they? They barely know him.

“Yeah whatever,” Virgil mutters, grabbing his headphones and slipping them around his neck. “Patton can take his damn dragon back, I don’t care.” He shoved past the two of them and out the door, right past Thomas who had been standing right by the doorway. Virgil glanced at him, then away as he went to wait in the lounge with some boys from the other room.

He stuck to the corner of the room, his headphones in to avoid any kind of conversation. He watched Thomas poke his head into the room and have a short conversation with Roman and Logan, neither of them looking very happy with whatever Thomas was telling them. He watched the other boys move around, talking and laughing with each other.  
This was something Virgil liked to do a lot. People watch. Though it made him feel a bit more disconnected from the world, there was also something calming about it. This combined with his music kept his anxiety at ease about the idea of the day he has ahead of him.

At least up until there was a tap on his shoulder.

Virgil looked up and saw Thomas standing over him. Virgil slid his headphones down around his neck. “I didn’t steal Patton’s dragon,” He says before Thomas could open his mouth.

Thomas offered a small smile. “Patton cleared that up for me, don’t worry you’re not in trouble.”

Virgil was surprised at that. After the way he’d spoken to Patton the night before, he would have thought the other boy would be beside himself to get Virgil in trouble.

Thinking about it, though, it didn’t seem like Patton, from what little Virgil knew of him.

“Okay,” Virgil says, now very confused as to why Thomas was talking with him.

“You do realize that you can’t have your headphones with you, right?” Thomas asks, not unkindly. “They’d make it very hard for you to hear any kind of instruction from me or another counselor.”

Virgil felt panic flow through him. No, no, no, he needed his headphones. He needed their comforting weight around his neck. He’d already abandoned his hoodie in favor of not passing out from heat stroke (a fact Logan annoyingly pointed out), he couldn’t give up his headphones too.

“Whoa, Virgil, are you okay?” Thomas asks suddenly. He steps in front of Virgil, blocking him from the view of everyone else in the room. “Hey, I need you to breathe for me buddy okay?”

Virgil nodded, his hand going to the fidget cube that was clipped around his belt loop. It helped to clear his head a little.

“Tell you what,” Thomas says. “Keep em off during activities. Either find someplace to put them or keep them around your neck. Any other time you can have them on, but you have to stay aware of your surroundings in case there’s an emergency. Any instance of you listening to music and deliberately ignoring me or another counselor and you can’t have them the rest of the summer. Deal?”

Virgil nodded without even thinking about it. He didn’t question how Thomas was able to see that Virgil was going into a panic attack, or how he knew that Virgil keeping his headphones was more than just wanting to listen to music. He was just too relieved to be able to keep them with him.

Thomas gives him a reassuring smile before walking over to the other counselor, Terry, to look over something. Virgil let out a breath and leaned his head against the wall. He could get through this. He had to get through this.

 

They arrived on the archery range to find another group of kids there from other cabins. It was a mix of boys and girls, so Virgil had to assume that it was at least two other cabins worth of kids.

Once they’d joined the group, the counselors all gathered them up and started giving safety instructions on the bow and arrows. The arrows were dulled, but still sharp enough that they could cause a bit of pain if they were to hit someone, like BB bullets. They were not, under any circumstances, to aim their arrow at another person.

Virgil paid close attention, despite his disinterest. He knew he’d have to at least give some effort, and the last thing he needed was to accidentally impale someone. Because of his attention hyper focused on the instructions, however, he didn’t see the boy inching closer to him until his fidget cube was tugged on.

“Still wearing this sissy toy around?" the boy growls in his ear.

Virgil turns a to glare at him and moves away, yanking his fidget cube away. The dude probably knew everything that the instructors were telling them—most of the campers did, having gone through this before—so they didn’t need to actually listen. Virgil, however, was a different story, and he got the feeling that the boy and his friends knew that. They kept muttering insults in his ear, pulling on the cord of his headphones, trying to untie his fidget cube from his belt loop.

“Would you morons stop it?” Virgil breaks finally, though he was louder than he’d intended. Everyone stopped and turned to look at him.

“Virgil, is there something you wanted to say?” Thomas asks with a frown.

Virgil gulps, thinking about his headphones, and shakes his head meekly. The boys were snickering, and out of the corner of his eye, Virgil saw Roman roll his eyes and Patton and Logan give him disapproving looks. As if all of this were his fault.

Oh who was he kidding. It probably was.

“Alright, let’s break into groups and get started on our practice,” the instructor says. “No more than four to a target!”

Virgil sighs and looks around as everyone started pairing up. He glanced hesitantly at his roommates, but they already had four people. A girl with long black hair and a bright smile had joined them, greeting them all like old friends. Which they probably were.

As a matter of fact, everyone was pairing up with either roommates or friends who had joined them. Virgil sighed, shoving his hands deep in the pockets of his shorts. He didn’t even want to be here in the first place. Why should he participate?

“Virgil.” Virgil looks up and sees Thomas walking over to him. “Join a team, bud.”

Glancing around, there were some groups that were only in threes. The thing is…Virgil couldn’t make himself go over to them. he glanced mournfully at his roommates. Despite the fact that they didn’t seem to like him and honestly he wasn’t their biggest fan…at least they were somewhat familiar.

“Why don’t you go join Alyssa, Cassie, and Travis over there,” Thomas points to a target on the edge of the crowd, where two girls and a guy was gathering their equipment.

Well…they didn’t look terrible. The only thing was…they were sandwiched between Virgil’s roommates and the boy who seemed to see a target on Virgil’s back. Virgil glanced at Thomas, who gave an encouraging smile. Well, it didn’t seem he had a choice at this point. He took a deep breath, steadying himself as best he could. He could do this. He’d be fine.

Virgil forced his legs to move and before he knew it he was approaching the trio. He ignored when Patton and Logan both gave him curious looks, keeping his eyes on the other three campers.

One of the girls saw him first as he approached. She nudged her friend and nodded towards him. “Hey,” she says when Virgil gets closer. “Need a team?”

Virgil just nods, his hands curling in and out of fists in his pockets.

“Well, come on and join us,” the other girl says with a kind smile. “This is Cassie,” she motions to the girl who had spoken first. She had short curly brown hair and caramel colored skin. Then she motions to the guy, who looked a bit on the scrawny side, a mess of brown hair, and hazel eyes. “That’s Travis. Ignore him, he’s an idiot.”

“Mmm, but I’m your idiot,” Travis says with a teasing smile at her. 

Rolling her eyes, the girl looks back at Virgil. “And I’m Alyssa,” she finishes. She had long dark hair that was pulled into a tight braid, brown eyes, and fair skin.

“I’m Virgil,” he mutters, absentmindedly playing with his fidget cube.

“Ohhh, nice name,” Alyssa says, sounding genuine. “You don’t hear of a lot of Virgils.”

Virgil didn’t know how to respond to that. Thankfully, though he didn’t have to.

“Well isn’t this just perfect,” Patton says, walking over to them with a bright smile. “You’re making friends already Virgil!”

“You know him Patton?” Travis asks.

“We’re uh…we’re roommates,” Virgil mutters, taking a small step away from Patton to get a bit of his personal space back. This movement didn’t seem to go unnoticed by Virgil’s now group or Patton, who deflated a little.

It didn’t take long for him to perk back up, though. “Virgil, you should meet Rose! She’s Roman’s sister,” Patton says, and before Virgil could say anything, the other boy was waving over the girl with long dark hair over. “Rose, this is Virgil, our fourth roommate!”

“Nice to meet you!” Rose says with a smile to rival Patton’s.

Virgil attempted to smile back, but he was feeling a bit overwhelmed, being so close to everyone. It was hard to muster anything that wasn’t a grimace.

“Aren’t you going to at least say hi back?” Roman asks, swooping in with his arms crossed. “I have a personal offense to anyone who disrespects my little sister, so you’d better watch out.”

“Uhh,” Alyssa steps in with a small smile. “We should get geared up shouldn’t we? Cas and I will walk Virgil through the gear.”

“Yes, I agree with Alyssa,” Logan says. “We shouldn’t dawdle.”

Alyssa led Virgil away, and he felt his shoulders relax slightly as he followed Alyssa back over to Cassie and Travis.

 

The counselor who was helping them was named Talyn. Like almost all the other counselors, most of the campers seemed to know them. Great, another thing to separate Virgil from everyone else. He was slightly comforted in the fact that there seemed to be a few other kids who looked as lost as he felt.

Despite her promises, Alyssa and Cassie seemed okay with handing over any explanation of the gear to Talyn. They walked Virgil through everything, from the armguard to the shooting tab. They showed him how to stand and readjusted his arms when he finally got to hold the bow. Virgil tried not to screw it up, but it was hard when he knew that he had an audience.

“Don’t miss newbie!” he heard Frank call, followed by some laughter.

“Alright, don’t distract him,” Talyn says, rolling their eyes. Virgil could feel his hand sweating in the shooting tab—it was this leather glove that only had one or two fingers that strapped around his wrist—and he readjusted his grip slightly, jumping a little when the arrow nearly slipped out of his fingers.

“Don’t be so scared,” he hears Roman say.

“Roman, what did I just say?” Tayln asks in a slightly annoyed tone. 

Virgil knew that they were just trying to help him, but their tone set him on edge too. He lowered the bow, releasing the tension in his shaking arm. “I-I’m not…” he was having trouble breathing. Ugh, why did it have to be so hot? “Someone else go.”

“Virgil are you sure?” Tayln asks gently, moving so that they were looking up at him. “Do you need a drink of water?”

Virgil nodded silently as Tayln took the bow from him and set it aside. They had Virgil sit down for a moment and told Cassie, Alyssa, and Travis that they could go ahead and start shooting if they wanted to. Jeana, who was watching over Patton, Logan, Roman, and Val, agreed to keep an eye out for both groups while Tayln went to get a bottle of water.

“Are you okay?” Cassie asks once Tayln was gone and Travis had taken the bow. Alyssa stood behind him, casting worried glances back at Virgil.

Virgil nodded, but that was about all he could do.

“Got cold feet?” a boy sneers, kneeling behind him. “Gonna wuss out?”

“Knock it off Frank,” Cassie says with a glare. “You’re not helping anybody.”

“Ohh got yourself a girlfriend, eh little fag?” Frank asks, this time softer right by Virgil’s ear, practically leaning on Virgil.

Virgil shoved him off. “Get off me!” he exclaims, scrambling to his feet. His sudden movement caught the eye of Jeana, who turned towards them.

“Frank, this is not your group,” she says with a frown. “Stop distracting the other campers and focus on your own target.”

Frank gave Virgil a look that could kill, one that Virgil returned right back. “I will,” Frank says, turning back to his group of friends, who were all watching Virgil with amused smiles, like he didn’t’ know what he had coming for him.

Talyn came back then, looking at Virgil with surprise, as if they could tell that something had happened. “Here you go,” they say, handing Virgil the water. “Drink up. It’s not good to get dehydrated.”

“Thanks,” Virgil mutters, and downs the entire bottle. The interaction with Frank had fired him up for a moment, but he was still left pretty shaky.

“Hey Virgil?”

Virgil looked over and saw Alyssa standing there, a small smile on her lips. He lowered the bottle and raised an eyebrow at her, trying to get control of himself.

“Have you seen the sky today? It’s really pretty, and there are lots of clouds you can make shapes out of,” Alyssa says, looking up.

Virgil followed her gaze, and though he didn’t want to admit it, she was right. The sky was the perfect shade of blue and the clouds moved easily through it. His vision was filled with the clouds and sky and the tips of trees, and for a moment he felt so calm. He forgot about the crowd around him and his shoulders relaxed a little. As much as he didn’t want to be here…he had to admit that it was a nice day.

“Virgil?”

Blinking, Virgil straightens and looks at Logan, who had been staring at him with his cool, calculated gaze. There was something softer in this one, though, as if he could see Virgil’s inner thoughts. 

“Are you okay?” Logan asks. 

Virgil glances at Alyssa, who had her arms crossed and was watching Cassie take a turn with the bow, a small smile on her face. “Yeah,” Virgil says softly. He turns and walks over to Tayln, leaving the other boy staring after him. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Alyssa lower her head and smile at him. 

He taps Tayln’s shoulder to get their attention. “I think I can try again now.”


	6. The Rock Climbing Race

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Agh I feel like I've been ignoring y'all. I see your comments though! All of you are amazingly sweet and I'm really glad you're enjoying this. Thank you so much for your kind words, they really make my day :)  
> Also, warning: this chapter deals with a panic attack

How did he get in this situation? 

The question circled around Virgil’s head the entire day. He didn’t know what he did or said, but it seemed that whatever group you end up with during the first activity for the day is the group you stay with for the rest of the day. Either that, or the girls and Travis felt that bad for him. 

After leaving archery, Virgil was prepared to disappear into the back of the group, as he’d done on the walk over, but Cassie had looked back at him and motioned for him to join her, Alyssa, and Travis. 

“No one’s left behind,” Cassie says at Virgil’s bewildered look.

“I mean, if you’d rather be alone that’s fine,” Alyssa says, though not in a condescending way, but as if she understood if he genuinely wanted to be left alone. “We won’t be offended.”

Virgil frowned, but before he could answer, Thomas was calling after them, telling them to hurry up. Feeling as if he hadn’t been left much of a choice, he followed the group to their next activity. He’d expected them to leave him, since it was arts and crafts and they pretty much had free reign over the place, but they invited him to sit with them, talk with them.

When they moved to rock climbing, the three of them immediately started putting on gear, handing Virgil the right stuff. When a counselor asked who would be in their group, Cassie listed all of them including Virgil off without seemingly a second thought. 

It was…odd. To be accepted into a group so easily. He was suspicious of them. Did they pity him for being Franks punching bag (which hadn’t stopped all day)? His teasing had been less noticeable to the counselors, though, so maybe they hadn’t noticed. Virgil still had purple glitter glue in his hair from arts and crafts. He didn’t want to admit that he kind of liked the look. 

He didn’t really know what to think as he was strapped into a harness for his turn on the wall. 

“Of course I’m the best at this,” he heard Roman boast from beside him. 

“Oh yeah?” Cassie calls. “I don’t know, you’re looking a bit less fit this year. Did you slack off over the fall, Roman?” 

Virgil smirked at that, glancing over at Princey, who looked rather offended. “I did not! I could easily beat out Virgil here, at least.” 

Okay, that was not expected. Virgil looked up from where Thomas was helping him with the harness. His counselor straightened, looking as if he were trying not to smile. He caught Virgil’s eye and nodded to the wall before moving to Alyssa. 

Virgil approached the wall, bracing himself, glancing back over to Roman. Couldn’t beat Virgil huh? Well that sounded like a challenge if Virgil had ever heard one. 

Looking up at the wall, Virgil weighed his chances. He wasn’t out of shape, exactly—though he had spent a lot of time in his room, he also rather enjoyed exercise when he was feeling particularly anxious and his parents did have a nice set of equipment free to use—so he wasn’t worried about his strength. He just hoped that the equipment…

“Are you just going to stand around all day Virge?” Alyssa voice cuts in. 

Virgil blinks and glances back at her. She was smiling, as if trying to tell him that she’d just been teasing and that she wasn’t actually annoyed. 

Still, though, Virgil couldn’t help but scowl at himself. There were other people around, and they had better things to do other than wait around for Virgil. Hastily, he grabbed the pegs and started climbing. He couldn’t help but notice that Roman already had a good foot on him, but it didn’t take long for Virgil to catch up. 

When Roman looked over and saw Virgil, he frowned. Virgil only smirked in response and kept climbing, surpassing Roman altogether. 

 

“Wow, look at him go!” Rose exclaims, talking for once not about her brother, but about Virgil. 

Logan and Patton stared up as well. It seemed that Virgil did have his strengths. 

“You’re doing great Virge!” Cassie calls up. 

“Since when does she get to call him that?” Patton mutters to Logan. 

Logan shrugs, still watching the now race that was going on between their two roommates. “They have seemed to have brought Virgil into their circle of friends.” 

“But what did they do right that we did wrong?” Patton asks as he looks back at Virgil, who was still outpacing Roman. 

“Perhaps he prefers the company of women,” Logan says. “It’s not uncommon for some boys, you know.” 

“Well he doesn’t seem to mind Travis either,” Patton pointed out, glancing at the other boy who was watching the race with amused eyes. 

Logan sighs. “I do not know, Patton.” It sounded like he didn’t care either, which would be the only reason Logan would ever admit to not knowing anything. “Shouldn’t you be happy that he at least found a group?” 

“I guess…” Patton’s voice trailed off as he saw movement out of the corner of his eye. Turning his head, he saw Frank moving towards Virgil, climbing faster and faster. Patton frowned and glanced around at the counselors and instructors. They were all busy helping some newer or younger kids, since they were sharing the gym with a few younger campers. No one else seemed to notice the other boy headed for Virgil, everyone seeming either focused on the race or on their own climbing. 

Not really knowing what else to do, Patton started to call out, but it was too late. Frank had reached him and had ram into him, just as Virgil had beaten Roman to the top. 

 

Virgil felt exhilarated. He hadn’t pushed himself like that in a long time, and though he knew his body was going to hate him for it later, he couldn’t stop the smile from spreading on his lips as he reached the top of the wall, Roman still a good bit below him. 

The smile lasted until someone slammed into him, pushing him against the wall and making the pegs dig into him. 

“Watch where you’re climbing, emo freak,” Franks voice hissed in his ear, shoving him against the wall again. 

Squirming, Virgil managed to elbow the other boy away from him. He didn’t bother with any kind of retort, but at that moment Virgil realized just how high up he was, with little support, and suddenly he couldn’t breathe very well. 

“Like it up here huh?” Frank asks, edging closer. 

Virgil couldn’t say anything. He was frozen where he was. He couldn’t move. 

“You better make way for others, freak,” Frank says, attempting to push him. “It’s rude to hog the wall.” 

Virgil barely registered his voice. His breathing was coming out in pants, his entire body cramping up. He felt the harness he was wearing dig into his gut, and the strap on his helmet felt like it was choking him. 

“Virgil?” Someone placed their hand on Virgil’s shoulder, making him jump so hard he let go of the wall. Panicking, he scrambled to grab hold of the pegs again, but he’d thrown himself too far to get a good grip. He fell until he hit the mat twenty feet below. 

For a moment, he was too dazed to notice anything. Then people started crowding around him and he scrambled to sit up. 

“Oh my God, Virgil are you okay?” it was Cassie, kneeling beside him, a worried look on her face. 

He wasn’t. God, he couldn’t breathe. He felt like the harness and the helmet were strangling him. He started clawing at it, wanting it desperately to be off of him, but he didn’t know how it worked. Oh why hadn’t he paid more attention when Thomas was putting it on him? Why had he’d been so fixed on Roman’s stupid boasting? 

“Virgil, Virgil, I need you to breathe for me.” This was Alyssa. She knelt on his other side. “Okay, now I’m going to reach over and take your helmet off,” she says, slowly and deliberately. Virgil could only nod, though he flinched when she moved closer. She hesitated a moment, but then reached further when he didn’t move again. Once the helmet was off, he felt a bit better, but not by much. 

“Okay, good,” Alyssa says, setting his helmet to the side. “Thomas is on his way to help you out of the harness okay? We’re not allowed to mess with them. Just close your eyes and try to focus on something else. The feel of the mat, the sounds of the gym, your breathing.” 

“In for four, hold for seven, out for eight,” Cassie prompts after a few moments of Virgil trying and failing to get his breathing under control.

It wasn’t working it wasn’t working it wasn’t working. The harness felt like a cage and it bit into his skin and made his breathing feel even more restricted. Distantly he could hear his breath wheezing out, but he couldn’t do anything to stop it. 

“What’s happening? Is he okay?” this was Roman’s voice. He must have finally made it back to the ground. 

“Look at that, the sissy can’t even take a dumb fall,” he heard Frank say with a laugh. Virgil could hear other laughter echoing him, and suddenly he could feel the pressure of all of the eyes that were on him. He squeezed his eyes shut, ignoring the tears the leaked out. 

“Shut the hell up Frank,” Travis said, sounding angry. 

“Or what, pretty boy?” 

Nononononnononono he couldn’t stand the anger, the tension. 

“Virgil, honey, listen to me.” This was Cassie again. “You’re alright, everything’s alright.” 

“Thomas!” Alyssa exclaimed with some relief in her voice. 

Oh god why can’t I breathe? Breathebreathebreathebreathe you idiot breathe! 

“What happened?” Thomas asks, though his voice sounded far away. 

“He fell,” Patton’s voice said.

“It seemed that he was being harassed by Frank,” Logan says. “I believe that he started having a panic attack while up there and when Roman tried to help him, it had the opposite effect and made Virgil let go of the pegs.” 

“Why didn’t the harness slow him down?” Thomas muttered. Then, more clearly he said, “Alright, Virgil I’m going to get you out of the harness okay? Then we’ll get you someplace quiet.” 

Thenoisethenoisethnoise. It was too much. The harness was too much. He couldn’t breathe he couldn’t think. He needed to breathe but his body wouldn’t let him. He tried but his lung stopped halfway through a breath. He needed air he needed air heneededair…

“Got it,” Thomas says, pulling the harness off of him. “Virgil, can you stand? Can you walk?” 

He didn’t think so, but it seemed that his body was responding as it usually did. He got up and stumbled towards the exit, nearly knocking over a few younger campers along the way. His head was spinning and he felt dizzy, but all he could focus on was getting out. He heard Thomas and a few other counselors shouting after him, but he ignored him. He needed out. He just needed to get out. 

 

Thomas found Virgil hunched over behind the gym. He had his hands over his ears and he was sobbing into his knees. Thomas felt his heart go out to the kid. No way could that situation have been easy. 

Slowly, he walked over, being sure to make some kind of sound so as not to startle him. Virgil looked up, then away the moment their eyes met. 

“Virgil,” Thomas says gently. “Hey bud it’s okay. You’re not in trouble for running out. There might be a little tyke or two you might need to apologize to, but that’s fine.” 

Virgil kept his eyes downcast. He seemed to have gotten his breathing under control, but he didn’t seem quite fine just yet. Thomas sat next to him. “I brought you these.” He handed Virgil his headphones and fidget cube, both of which he’d had to take off because of the harness and the threat of the headphones falling off while he was climbing. 

Virgil glanced at them, but didn’t make a move to take them. He seemed too exhausted. Thomas set them down beside Virgil, so he’d have easy access to them whenever he could move again. 

“You know,” Thomas says, “panic attacks aren’t something you should be embarrassed about. Heightened anxiety is…hard to deal with, but it’s not uncommon. I deal with it a lot, so does Talyn, the counselor helping you at archery? And one of the heads of camp, Joan. They spoke at the opening assembly, remember? We know what it’s like, for us anyway. So you don’t have to feel like you’re alone on this or that you can’t ask for help.” 

“I’m a freak.” 

Thomas looked over at Virgil, who was still crying. “I’m an utter freak.” 

“No you’re not,” Thomas says, but stopped when Virgil turned a glare on him. 

“Oh yeah? How do you know? You don’t even know me!” 

Thomas sat quietly for a moment, then leaned his head back against the wall. “No, I don’t,” he admits, “but you know, we’re all freaks in our own way. I consume way more pizza than the human body is ever meant to consume. I also have an entire rap I learned as a child still memorized and sometimes rap it when I’m alone. We all have weird quirks, but those are the best parts about us.” 

Virgil was silent at that, though he’d stopped crying, at least. Thomas checks his watch, then does a mental calculation of the rest of the day. 

“Tell you what,” he says after a moment. “I’m in no way obligated to make you suffer through the rest of the day, especially if you’re not feeling up for it. The rest of the afternoon is just free time anyway. I can leave the others with Jena or Tayln and walk you back to the cabin. I can get back before rock climbing’s over to make sure that everyone is accounted for. Sound good?” 

Slowly, Virgil nodded. Thomas stood, looking down at him. “Do you think you can make it to the cabin?” 

Again, Virgil just nodded, scooped up his headphones and fidget cube before pushing himself to his feet. He was shaky, but seemed okay. They walked slowly, mostly to make sure that Virgil didn’t accidentally pass out.

When they made it to the cabin, Thomas made sure that Virgil was situated and had a bottle of water before heading back to the gym. 

 

Virgil spent the rest of the day wallowing away in his room. He heard the others coming back after rock climbing, but he’d pretended to be asleep in order to avoid talking with them. he didn’t open his eyes again until the room was utterly quiet. 

As the light started to fade and the dinner bell rang, Virgil tried to find the energy to get out of bed. But frankly he was aching and exhausted, so he opted to skip out again. Going into the mess hall would probably do more harm than good anyway. 

When he heard the door to the cabin open and Patton’s excited voice, he tried ot pretend to sleep again. However the others, it seemed, weren’t having it this time. 

“Virgil?” Patton asks, gently shaking him. “Virge, wake up kiddo.” 

Groaning, Virgil opened his eyes and glared at the other boy, who backed away immediately. “What do you want?” Virgil muttered. 

“You skipped dinner again,” Logan says. “Considering the day you’ve had, that would be ill advisable.” 

“Why do you care?” Virgil snaps. 

“Well we do want you to take care of yourself…” Patton started, but his voice trailed off when Virgil sat up and glared at him. 

“Really? Because earlier it didn’t seem like you cared much about me at all.” 

For a moment, the room was silent. His roommates glanced around at each other, confused. “What are you talking about?” Roman asks.

“I didn’t see that asshole coming towards me!” Virgil exclaims, the anger he hadn’t even realized was there bubbling up. “One of you two could have shouted a warning,” he said to Logan and Patton. “And you,” he turned to Roman, “are the one who made me fall in the first place!” 

“Now hold on,” Roman says, scowling. “I tried to help you! I saw that you were frozen, and I tried to get your attention. It’s not my fault you’re a scaredy cat!” 

Virgil felt his face heat up. 

“Ah, Roman maybe that isn’t…” Patton started, but Virgil cut him off. 

“Oh, right, because it was my fault I was getting harassed!” Virgil let out a humorless laugh. “Of course it was! I’m just the sad little newbie who is just an easy target, is that it? I don’t deserve anyone’s acceptance or kindness! I never have and never will!” 

“Virgil—” 

“No, I don’t want to hear it,” Virgil says, shaking his head. He turns and grabs his phone and headphones. “I don’t want your pathetic excuses. You obviously just enjoy watching me get hurt and suffer. Don’t worry, you’re not the only ones.” 

With that he walked out, slamming the door behind him. 

 

Virgil only went back to the room when Terry told him that it was lights out and he needed to go to bed. Thankfully, though, the other three were already asleep. Virgil stood in the center of the room, taking them all in. 

Roman was lying on his back, a sleep mask over his eyes. His mouth was hanging open and he had a white teddy bear with a red sash tucked against his side (where he’d been hiding that, Virgil had no clue). 

Patton was curled into a ball, surrounded by all of his plushies. He was hugging a brown teddy bear in a Steven Universe t-shirt to his chest, his blanket tucked around both of them. he seemed to be in as deep a sleep as Roman. 

Logan, though, was sleeping on his back, his hands folded neatly over his stomach. he looked like a dead body in a coffin, though a dead body would not be making the atrocious sounds Logan was making right now. Virgil had no idea how he’d slept through it the night before. Hell, he didn’t know how Roman and Patton were sleeping through it right now.  
Shaking his head Virgil headed for the window. Camp rules be damned. He could not stay in this room tonight. Not with the knowledge of all the things he’d said to them earlier.

Definitely not with that snoring. 

So he opened the window and climbed out, headed towards the woods behind the cabin.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *cough* i might've, ah, run out of chapter titles. shhh it's fine   
> Anyway! Happy Thanksgiving to any Americans out there. I hope that you have/are going to eat a lot of good food. If you're not in the U.S. then go get your favorite meal and enjoy it! Food deserves to be enjoyed, you know?   
> If you can't be yourself with your family around this time of year, my heart goes out to you. Remember you're still valid. hopefully this chapter will maybe provide a little bit of a distraction or happiness. Know that I believe in you :)

The tension between these boys could melt steel. 

Thomas had watched them all morning. There hadn’t been a single sound uttered from their room, not one sentence or remark. The looks Virgil sent them made the hairs on his arm stand up, and the looks that were returned—matching resentment from Roman, cool indifference from Logan, and sad and confused from Patton—made his gut wrench. He didn’t know exactly what had happened, but according to Terry, there had been some form of screaming match the night before. Virgil had spent all of his time by himself in the lounge, only going back when he’d been told to. 

Whatever had happened, it had clearly left some rift between them. Roman, Patton, and Logan on one side, Virgil on the other. He supposed that as long as they were at least treating each other like human beings, there was little Thomas could do other than let them work it out. He got the feeling that none of them would appreciate him stepping in directly, but then, maybe he could do something…

“Thomas.” 

Thomas jumped, startled out of his thoughts. He looked up at Joan, who had sat down at his table at some point without him realizing it. They were looking at him, as if waiting for an answer for something. 

“Oh, yeah, I’m sorry I was zoned out there for a moment.” 

“I can see that,” Joan says. They glance around the mess hall, looking at the three boys who were sitting on the exact opposite side of the room as Virgil. “Looks like tension is in the air.”

“That’s one way of putting it,” Thomas says, shaking his head. 

Joan sighs, looking back at him. “So about Frank.” 

Thomas sat up at that. “Yeah?” 

Joan sighs. “Bran stands by Frank. He says that there was no harm intended and that it was Virgil’s and Roman’s fault.” 

Thomas sighs, running his hand through his hair. “I don’t understand. The boys, and Alyssa and Cassie all said the same thing. That Frank was the one messing with Virgil.”

“I know,” Joan says evenly. “I need to talk to all of them, but I need everyone on the same page.” They pat Thomas’s arm. “Talk to your campers, Thomas.” 

Thomas nods with a sigh, looking back at the boys. He’d talk to them all privately later, maybe try to find some mid ground for all of them, but if their behavior so far was anything to go by…

This was going to be a long day. 

 

All throughout archery, Virgil kept to himself. He didn’t talk to anyone, barely looked at anyone. He only nodded or shook his head when someone asked him something. He didn’t respond to the questions Alyssa, Cassie, or Travis tried to ask him. In fact, he pretended that they didn’t exist at all. 

There was a clear anger in his movements, though, which didn’t go unnoticed by anyone. He fired his arrows one after the other with the same jerky, almost predatorial movements. He didn’t respond to Rose when she tried to greet him, which prompted Roman to go off on him, something that Virgil flat out ignored. Patton, Logan, and Rose had to calm him down, Rose throwing the other three a confused look. 

Of course, a blind man would be able to see the tension between the four roommates. Something was off, and they had a feeling it had something to do with the incident at the gym yesterday. Still, though, Virgil refused to say anything to them whenever they tried to approach him about it. 

“Okay, someone needs to get through to him,” Alyssa muttered. They were at arts and crafts, and Virgil had sat himself in a corner of the room, by himself, with a few pieces of paper and a pencil. He had his head ducked, a clear indication that he wanted to be left alone. 

“Think we should talk to Patton and the others?” Travis asks, glancing at the other three boys, who didn’t seem in that good of a mood either, but Patton at least seemed to be trying. 

“That might make things worse,” Cassie points out. “Virgil’s the one pushing everyone away.”

“Can we really stop him from doing that though?” Travis asks. “He seems pretty determined.” 

Alyssa and Cassie exchange looks, having a silent discussion. “It’s better if we tried than doing nothing,” Alyssa says after a moment, looking back at her boyfriend with a nod from Cassie.

Travis considers that for a moment, then nods. “Yeah, I see what you mean. What should we do though?” 

“I vote Cassie go over and talk to him,” Alyssa says. 

Cassie blinks. “Me?” 

Alyssa shrugs. “Yeah, I mean, you’re just as stubborn as he is, and you know how to get through to people.” There was an unspoken comment in that, one that Cassie sighed at and rolled her eyes. 

“Alright, fine. Just so you know, though, you were a lot different.” 

Alyssa smiles at that. “Yet here we are,” she says. She nods to Cassie sketch pad. “he seems to like drawing, if his stance over there is anything to go by. Ask him to review some of your drawings.” 

“Or ask to start a new one,” Travis offers, seeing Cassie’s hesitance. “something you can work on together.” 

Cassie rolls her eyes at them, but gets up, hugging her sketch pad to her chest. “Yeah, yeah, okay, I’m going.” 

 

Virgil really did not like being forced to be around people when he didn’t want to. All he wanted was to be alone with his music, but he couldn’t even have that. Maybe it was because he was cranky from not getting enough sleep, or maybe it was because of the fight he had with his roommates the night before, but he was not feeling today at all.   
The only good thing was that Frank seemed to be absent for the moment. His friends kept glaring at Virgil all morning, but they didn’t seem to have the guts to do anything without their leader around. 

Suddenly, he noticed something out of the corner of his eye moving towards him. He glanced up and saw Cassie smiling softly down at him. 

“Hey,” she says. Virgil just blinks, then turns his attention back to his drawing. 

Cassie clears her throat. “Do you mind if I sit with you? Ally and Travis are being all lovey and honestly I feel like I’m third wheeling.” 

Virgil just keeps drawing, not looking at her. 

She sighs. “I’ll take that as a yes, then,” she mutters to herself, taking a seat across from Virgil. She settled in, and a moment later he hears the scratch of a pencil on paper.   
Hesitantly, he glances up at her. She was leaning back in her chair, a sketch pad propped against the table. Her hand moved effortlessly across the page, a look of intense concentration on her face. 

He glances over at Alyssa and Travis, remembering what she’d said about them, and saw that Alyssa was leaning on Travis’s shoulder, and they were giggling about something together. Yuck. He could understand why Cassie would want to get away from that for a little while. 

They sit together in silence for a while, both of them working on their own drawings. It was…nice, he had to admit. Being with someone but not being expected to hold a conversation or do anything. 

Of course, this only lasted for a little while. Just as Virgil was relaxing, she speaks up again. “Hey Virge, can I ask you a question?” 

He looks at her, but it didn’t seem like she had lifted her eyes from the page. 

“Why are you treating us so…differently, than you did yesterday?” she does glance up at him then, but only for a moment before she looks back at her drawing. “I mean, I get wanting space and having bad days. Trust me. I have days when I shut everybody out and pretend like the world doesn’t exist. It’s a comforting thing to do, you know?” she pauses for a moment, still drawing, as if giving him a chance to speak. When he doesn’t she goes on. “So if it’s a bad day, that’s fine, but usually bad days are caused by something. If you wanted to talk about anything…” 

“Why didn’t you say anything?” 

Cassie looked up at that. Virgil stared at her, his own hand paused over his drawing. 

“What?” She asks. 

“When I was climbing, everyone could see Frank moving towards me. You knew he’d been messing with me. Why did you just let it happen?” 

This is stupid. She probably got joy in watching you suffer like that. Probably as some way to show she was a ‘friend’. Maybe she even helped to plan it. She seems smart enough. Asking is pointless, she’ll just lie…

“Virgil, we were watching you and Roman,” Cassie says, seeming surprised by his question. “There were a bunch of other people around you two and we weren’t paying attention to them. None of us noticed Frank until he started messing with you. I didn’t even know that was him, considering how high up you were.” 

Virgil blinked. He hadn’t considered that. 

“Travis and Rose were going to get Thomas as soon as Frank started pushing you. Then you fell when Roman tried to get your attention and we all kind of freaked out,” Cassie shrugs, looking back down at her drawing. 

Virgil looked down at the table. Maybe…he’d been wrong. But that still didn’t explain why, out of the only people to see that something was wrong, no one had done anything except Alyssa and Cassie. The more he thought about it the more he realized that he was mad because they’d all just stood around and watched, like Virgil was some circus act or something, which was probably exactly what Frank and his friends wanted. 

He didn’t’ know why he cared so much. He never resented the other people who had ignored him before. He didn’t know why he thought that these people would be different.   
No, he hadn’t thought that these people would be different, but he had hoped. Everyone seemed so genuine that he…he’d just wanted them to be who they said they were. He wanted them to prove him wrong. 

Cassie set her sketch book aside for a moment, leaning forward. “I don’t know what’s going on with you and your roommates, but do you really want to spend the whole summer alone?” she asks. 

Virgil didn’t answer that. He looked down at his mindless doodles, feeling his hand tighten around his pencil. 

He hears Cassie give a small sigh before she moved again. “You think you can help me?” 

Virgil looks up at her and saw that she was holding her sketch book in her hands. “I’m trying to think up a new villain for this comic Ally and I are working on. Think you can help me come up with a design? It’s always good to have an outside opinion.” 

Virgil blinked. “You…want my help?” 

Cassie shrugs. “Sure. You look like someone who know what a good villain looks like. No offense of course.” 

Frowning, Virgil looks her over for a moment, but she seemed sincere. Finally he lets his shoulders relax a little. “What ideas do you have so far?”

 

Thomas glanced around the art room. Roman, Patton, and Logan were sitting with Rose and few of their other friends, painting, while Virgil was in the back with…was that Cassie? well at least he wasn’t pushing everyone away. The two of them had their heads bent over a piece of paper, seemingly in their own world. Good. He didn’t have to worry about Virgil going off on someone any time soon, at the very least. 

“I’ve gotta meet Joan,” Thomas tells Tayln. 

They nod and give him a thumbs up. “I’ve got them.” 

Thomas smiles and give them a thankful pat on the shoulder as he passes them. “You’re the best,” he says and leaves the building, heading towards the head counselor’s office.   
There Joan sat with Bran, who met Thomas’s stare with a small glare. “this is a waste of time,” Bran says. 

“A camper was put in danger yesterday,” Joan says. 

Bran shrugs. “The kid didn’t get hurt. That’s the whole point of the harness and the mats on the floor. Besides I don’t see what Frank has to do with this.” 

“At least six campers saw Frank messing with Virgil before he fell,” Joan explains. “they said that he was pushing Virgil, causing him to go into a panic attack.” 

“Sounds like a kid who can’t take a joke to me,” Bran says. 

Thomas feels anger curl in his chest, but he takes a deep breath before turning to Bran. “There’s no mistaking that something happened,” Thomas says. “Virgil did fall, and the equipment, which had been tested just the day before, didn’t slow him down enough to keep from hurting him. If he hadn’t been wearing his helmet, we’d be having a different conversation.” 

“Well who was in charge of watching them?” Bran shoots back.

Thomas didn’t have a retort for that. He’d been helping Jena with a younger camper when everything had happened, he hadn’t even noticed something was wrong until Rose and Travis had come running over to him. 

“the teenage campers don’t need to be watched as much as the youngers ones do, you know that Bran,” Joan says. “The question isn’t who was watching them, it’s why did this happen in the first place? I’m not putting the blame on either one of you, but the campers know to keep their hands to themselves wen they’re on the wall to avoid situations like this.”

“Well from what I’ve been told,” Bran says, “what made the little guy fall wasn’t Frank, but his fellow roommate.” 

“That was after Frank shocked Virgil so much. Roman was just trying to make sure he was okay,” Thomas defends without thinking. 

“Are you accusing my camper, Sanders?” Bran asks. “You didn’t even see what happened.” 

Thomas takes another few deep breaths. “Maybe not, but I trust my campers, Bran. Four of them aren’t even mine.” 

“No, but they’re friends with yours,” Bran points out. 

“Okay,” Joan says before Thomas could retort. They could probably see how worked up Thomas was getting, despite his best efforts. “We’ll talk to some other campers, ones who aren’t with either of you and who aren’t friends with either Frank or Virgil.” 

“No one’s friends with him,” Bran mutters, earning a glare from Thomas. 

“For now,” Joan goes on, as if the other counselor hadn’t spoken, “both Frank and Roman are suspended from their activities until we can sort this out. Hopefully it’ll only be for a day or so.” 

Thomas wanted to protest. He knew that Roman hadn’t done anything, that the other boy had just been trying to help, but he also knew tat there was no changing Joan’s mind. 

“Go get him, Thomas,” Joan says. “I’d like to talk with him.”   
Thomas nods and leaves, not looking forward to the conversation he was going to have to have with Roman. 

“Hey! Sanders!” 

Thomas stopped and turned to see Bran jogging after him. When he caught up, he got right in Thomas’s face. “Who do you think you are, accusing my campers?” 

“I’m just telling you what my campers have told me, Bran,” Thomas says calmly. “You know as much as I do, so why don’t we just let the kids talk and figure it out from there.” 

“How about your worthless campers stop lying through their teeth and leave mine alone,” Bran says. 

Thomas shakes his head, reigning his anger at the insults. “I don’t understand why you’re so mad, Bran.” 

“Frank told me that Virgil’s been harassing him ever since camp started. Came running to me the first night. Didn’t want to bring it up with Joan, but maybe you should learn how to control your fucking campers, Sanders. Or they’ll have what’s coming for them.” 

Thomas lost it at that. “Don’t you go accusing my campers of something they didn’t do,” he says, his voice low and steady. “Virgil might have a bit of a bad attitude, but I trust when he says that he was the one being picked on.” 

“Oh yeah? And why’s that?” Bran asks casually. 

“because no one is that scared around someone unless there’s reason behind it,” Thomas says. 

Bran shakes his head. “Man they got you wrapped around your finger and it’s only the second day! Your kids will be running the cabin by the end of the week if you don’t grow some, Sanders.” 

Thomas glares at him. “Do us all a favor and keep your campers away from mine so we can avoid this. Our job is to make sure the kids have fun, not that they’re miserable.”   
“Whatever you say, Sanders,” Bran says, turning and walking towards the stables. 

Thomas bites down on a frustrated scream. He hated it when people insulted his campers. He hated it even more when they were right. It was only the second day, and he hadn’t known Virgil long. What if Bran was right about him? 

Well there were a few ways to figure that out, but right now he needed to get Roman.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ack you guys are so sweet. All of your comments really make my day. I'm loving your reactions to everything. Thank you so much for the support on this, it really means a lot
> 
> Warning: panic attack, some psychical fighting.

Roman was pissed. This was not how camp was supposed to go. This was supposed to be a nice fun summer but then this boy comes along and ruins everything. 

He saw said boy walking by the lake with Cassie and Rose, and Roman couldn’t stop himself. He marched over to them, eyes set on Virgil. 

Rose saw him first. She smiled at him, raising a hand in greeting. “Roman! What happened? You didn’t come back after Thomas pulled out from arts and crafts.” 

“You,” Roman says, ignoring his sister and going straight for Virgil. “You’ve ruined everything!” 

Virgil stumbles away from Roman, his eyes wide. “I...” 

“Ro,” Cassie says, stepping in between them. “What’s going on?” 

“I’m suspended from camp activities because of him,” Roman says, not taking his eyes off the other boy. “All because I tried to help you!” 

“Whoa, whoa Roman,” Rose put a hand on Roman’s shoulder. “Calm down for a moment. What are you talking about?” 

Roman gritted his teeth, but he looked at his sister. “Joan’s suspended me from activities because Virgil fell when I touched him. Apparently someone told them that I’m the one responsible for him falling.” 

Virgil’s eyes were wide, and he seemed to be shaking a little. Not that Roman cared one bit. “I…I didn’t,” Virgil stutters out. 

“That’s not what it sounded like last night,” Roman spats out. “You said it yourself that I was the reason you fell. You didn’t come back to the room until we were all asleep. How do I know you didn’t go talk to Joan?” 

“Because I didn’t,” Virgil says, starting to return Roman’s glare. “I was angry, Princey, I didn’t mean it.” 

“I call bullshit on that,” Roman says. “You haven’t liked us since the first day!” his hands were curled into fists. How dare this boy show up and ruin his perfectly good summer? 

“Roman,” Cassie says, pushing Roman back from Virgil. “I know you’re mad but getting into a fight right now will not help anything. You know camp rules. Do you want to get sent home?” 

Roman back off a little at that, hating that she was right. Virgil was still glaring at him, and Roman didn’t hesitate to return the favor.   
“Roman, Virgil!” 

Everyone froze as Thomas’s voice called out their names, slowly turning to see the counselor jogging over to them. he stops and looks between them, clearly seeing that something was wrong. “Everything okay here?” 

“Ask Princey,” Virgil says with a scoff, motioning to Roman. 

That got his blood pressure up again, but Rose put a hand on his shoulder, shooting him a warning look. 

Thomas frowned. “Alright, both of you back to the cabin now. We need to talk.” 

 

Thomas paced in front of his four campers. They were in the lounge, Patton and Logan sitting on the couch, Virgil and Roman on opposite sides of them in chairs. The cabin was empty, Terry making sure to keep the other campers out at Thomas’s request.

“Okay, I don’t know why you three can’t seem to get along with Virgil,” he says, looking at Patton, Roman, and Logan.

“It’s not like he’s trying,” Roman says.

“Oh like I’d want to be friends with—”

“Stop!” Thomas says, holding up his hands. “Look, like it or not, you’re going to be sharing a room for the next two months, so it’ll be easier on all of us if you two find some midground. You don’t have to like each other, but you can’t keep arguing like this.” 

“I think I speak for Patton and myself when is say that we would rather not have to deal with it either,” Logan says. 

“Thank you, Logan,” Thomas says with a sigh. 

The two quarreling boys grumble, but they don’t comment on it. Thomas figured that was the best he was going to get, so he moved on. “Alright then. Roman I know you’re upset about this situation with Frank, but we’re going to figure it out.” 

“What happened?” Patton asks. 

“He’s blaming me for Virgil falling,” Roman mutters. 

Patton frowns. “But that’s not what happened!” 

Thomas holds up a hand to stop him. “I believe you, Patton. Trust me, I do, but Joan didn’t have a choice. It’s just until they can figure out who’s telling the truth. There’s a handful of campers who say that Frank didn’t actually do anything, and then there’s what you guys have said.”

“Don’t I get a say?” Virgil pipes up. “I was the one who fell.” 

“I think so,” Thomas says, “but Bran argues that you, well, weren’t in the best mindset.” 

“Bran?” Virgil asks, glancing at his roommates. 

“Franks counselor,” Logan mutters, rolling his eyes. 

“I need to hear the story, from each of your perspectives,” Thomas goes on. “Virgil, let’s start with you okay? What happened.” 

 

As soon as Thomas gave them the okay, Virgil was out of the cabin. He was sure that Logan and Patton would have something to say about Roman’s suspension, but he didn’t want to hear it at the moment. He shoved his hands in his pockets and started walking. 

He went through the events of the day before in his mind. Thinking about it with a clear head—and having heard the other’s versions of events—Virgil knew that Roman really had been trying to help. If Virgil hadn’t frozen up in the first place, they wouldn’t be in this situation and Roman wouldn’t hate him. Logan and Patton probably wouldn’t either. 

Ugh, why did he have to be a magnet for this kind of stuff? It seemed like whenever he left his room, bad things happened to him and those around him. He was better off hiding in the cabin for the rest of the summer and pretending that he didn’t exist. It would probably help a whole lot. Roman could have the fun summer he’d been talking about, Patton could stop looking like a hurt puppy, and Logan could stop having to deal with all of this drama. Thomas could stop caring about him. Yeah, that was for the better. The more any of them cared about Virgil, the more they would get hurt in the end. 

After walking for a few moments, Virgil stopped and looked around to see where he was. He hadn’t really been paying attention before, being too caught up in his thoughts. He found himself in front of the main building, where the head counselor’s office was. 

It’s the right thing to do Virge. 

His mind kept repeating it, over and over, yet he still had to take a few moments to psyche himself up to go inside. Eventually he forced his feet to move, and didn’t stop until he was standing outside the door. 

Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves, he knocked. 

Joan answered the door, and gave a small, surprised smile when they saw who it was. “Virgil. I can’t say I’m not surprised that you’re here. How are you doing after yesterday?” 

“Alright,” Virgil mutters, shifting on his feet. Joan stepped back from the doorway. 

“Please come in and take a seat. I expect you want to talk to me.” 

Virgil just nodded as he sat down, playing with his fidget cube the whole time. “You can’t suspend Roman,” Virgil blurts out before Joan even had the chance to sit back down behind their desk. “He didn’t do anything wrong. I was the one who was frozen at the top of the wall. He just surprised me is all. He was…trying to help.” Virgil muttered the last few words, hating the guilt that gripped him, their fight from the night before fresh in his mind. 

“I suspected as much,” Joan says with a small smile. “Though without your side of events, it was hard to act accordingly.” 

Virgil stared at them a moment. “You mean…all you needed was to talk to me?” 

“Yes,” Joan says. “See, after Thomas took you back to the cabin yesterday, he pulled everyone who had been with you at the time. they all told pretty much the same story. Then Frank was brought in and his story contradicted with theirs. It could be seen as Frank and Roman covering their own tracks—from an outside standpoint that is. You’re the third party. Bran says that you weren’t thinking straight yesterday, which is a fair point to make, but I’ve found that we rarely forget moments when we’re scared. At least concerning the kind of fear you felt yesterday.” 

Virgil shakes his head. “You sound like Logan.” 

Joan laughs. “I’ll take that as a compliment,” they say. 

Virgil sits back, turning his fidget cube in his hands. “Why didn’t you just come and ask me?”

“Be honest,” Joan says, “would you have been able to tell the truth without some kind of bias in the way?” 

Virgil thought about it. He’d been so angry yesterday. He’d fully convinced himself that his roommates were in the wrong. If Joan or Thomas had asked him to recount the events…

Joan could probably read the answer on his face, because they smiled. “Roman will be able to return to his activities tomorrow afternoon, so he won’t miss out on too much. Archery gets boring after two or three days anyway.” 

“What…what about Frank?” Virgil asks, not being able to help himself. 

“He’ll be back at the end of the week,” Joan says. “I talked to some other campers who had seen what happened. I’ll have a different conversation with him, don’t worry.” 

Virgil nodded, though he took little comfort out of that statement. 

 

Virgil left the main building and started back towards his cabin. He didn’t know if he should tell Roman or not. He got the feeling that the other boy wouldn’t believe him, or think that he was playing some joke. Maybe he should just let Joan and Thomas handle it, since Virgil had already done so much damage already.   
He was just rounding the corner of the mess hall to get back to the cabins when someone grabbed him. He was pulled around to the back of the building and shoved against a wall. 

“Snitching on me?” Frank asks. 

Virgil glared at the other boy, who was sneering down at him. “Aren’t you on house-arrest right now?” 

Frank scowled and punched Virgil in the gut, making him groan. Frank covered his mouth so that it wouldn’t’ attract attention.   
“I saw you coming out of the main building,” Frank sneers. “What did you tell them?” 

Virgil just stared at him, the boy’s hand still covering his mouth. 

Frank sneered. “You have a day, freak. A day to go and take back whatever the hell you told them. You’ll be sorry otherwise.” He punched Virgil again for good measure, then threw him onto the ground, groaning. 

Frank left Virgil on the ground, wondering what the hell he did to deserve this. 

 

It took a while for Virgil to get himself off the ground. When he did, he was shaky and on the verge of a panic attack. He managed to make it to his cabin before completely collapsing. Thankfully the cabin was empty. Everyone was out for their afternoon—

Wait. 

Roman.

Virgil looked up, terrified that the other boy would be around, but he seemed to be in their room. Praying that he wouldn’t come out, Virgil sat down on the couch, trying to remember how breathing worked. He heard himself gasping and wheezing, his body just not cooperating with him. He heard himself sobbing as if from a distance. He curled into a ball, clutching onto his hair with his hands. He couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t think. God he just wanted this to be over. 

Why. Why oh why ohwhyohwhy did this always happen to him. He tired to do the right thing and he gets punished for it. What kind of terrible things did he do in his past life to deserve all of this? 

A part of him was telling him that these thoughts weren’t helping, but he couldn’t stop them. he couldn’t stop the fact that he hated himself with every fiber of his being or that he was unwanted and unloved by everyone he met. The people…the people here were just being nice to him because they were stuck with him. Patton, Cassie, Alyssa…they all were just pitying him. 

Idon’tdeserveitIdon’tdeserveitIdon’tdeserveitIdon’tdeserveit…

 

Roman was alerted to someone else walking into the cabin by the front door slamming shut. He didn’t really care who it was, though. It was probably just one of the boys from the other room, coming and going as he pleases. Roman envied him. Getting to go out in the nice sunlight, enjoy an afternoon doing whatever they wanted…

It must be nice. 

It wasn’t until he heard the sobbing that he began to think that something was wrong. He sat up in his bunk, head cocked as he listened. It came again, this time louder. 

Frowning, Roman climbs down from the bed and cracks the door open to see what the commotion was about. 

Virgil sat on the couch in the lounge, curled into a ball and clutching his hair. He was breathing like he had been yesterday—short breaths coming in and out, like he’d been drowning and was now trying to gasp for air. 

Roman froze, unsure of what to do. He recalled yesterday Logan explaining how Virgil had had a panic attack and that the best thing they could have done was give him space, considering Alyssa and Cassie were already trying to help him through it. But it seemed that no one was helping Virgil now. 

Biting his lip, Roman turns and goes back into his room, but only to grab Virgil’s pillow from his bed and his jacket from the closet. Roman wasn’t entirely sure what to do, but he got the feeling that griping ones hair like the way Virgil was now was not a good thing to do. 

He returned to the lounge and sat down on the opposite end of the couch, being careful not to startle him too much. He’d learned that lesson the hard way.   
But Virgil didn’t seem to even notice that he was there. Feeling a bit like he was trying to handle a wild animal, Roman moved a bit closer and gently placed Virgil’s jacket around his shoulders. 

That got his attention. Virgil’s head snapped up, his eyes looking at Roman, but not really seeing him. Virgil was crying, his eyes red and panicked. Roman just pulled the jacket tighter around him, and Virgil seemed to relax ever so slightly. Roman then gently pulled Virgil’s hands from his hair. 

“That doesn’t look like it’s too comfortable,” Roman mutters, offering the pillow instead. Virgil takes it with trembling hands, hugging it tightly to his chest.   
Virgil was still hyperventilating, and Roman didn’t know what to do about that. He knew that he needed to get Virgil’s breathing back to normal, but he didn’t know how. Frantically he tried to think back to what Alyssa and Cassie had done the day before, but for half of the time, Roman had been trying to get himself down from the wall. 

“Okay, um,” Roman ran a hand through his hair. “Virgil, you need to take deep breaths okay? Um…follow my lead.” Roman started to take long, deep breaths. They were breathing exercises that they did in rehearsals, so he figured that it was worth a try. He didn’t know how well it would help, or if Virgil was actually listening, but it was better than nothing. 

It seemed, though, that Virgil was at least attempting for follow along with him. He managed to start breathing in with him, but the breath was always too short, and came out too quickly. 

“It’s alright, you’re doing great,” Roman says, seeing the bit of frustration in Virgil’s eyes. 

They continued like that for a while until Virgil’s breathing evened out. Once his breathing was back to normal, he buried his head in his pillow, obviously exhausted and still weak. 

Roman sat there, not knowing what else to do. It seemed that anything else was internal, possibly his own thoughts. Roman had no idea how to help with that. Patton and Logan were better equipped for it. Roman…Roman was clueless. 

Not really knowing what else he could do, he starts to get up and leave Virgil to his thoughts. As he turned towards his room, though, Virgil stops him. “Why did you help me?” 

Roman freezes and looks over his shoulder at the younger boy. “What?” 

“Why…why…” Virgil stuttered, then stopped, took another breath, and tried again. “Why did…why did you help me?” 

Roman couldn’t help but roll his eyes. “I may not like you very much,” he says, “but I do have a heart. What kind of prince would I be if I didn’t?” 

Virgil’s eyes widened suddenly, probably figuring out that Roman had called himself that because of the others nickname for him. 

“Don’t get me wrong,” Roman continues, “I haven’t forgiven you for yesterday.” 

Virgil nods, resting his chin on the pillow. “That’s fair.” 

Roman blinked in surprise at that. He’d been expecting some kind of fight or excuse, but Virgil just looked...defeated. tired. 

Roman felt his shoulders slump. “You know…when you’re feeling up for it…you should go to the rec room. There’s all kinds of games you can play in there, with others or by yourself. You can usually find my sister there. Patton, too. Sometimes Logan, if he’s not off doing his nerd things. The games offer a nice distraction.” 

Virgil stared at him, but slowly nodded. “Okay.” 

Feeling a bit awkward, Roman turned to go back to their room. 

“Hey Princey.” 

Roman looked over his shoulder again and saw Virgil giving a weak, small smile. 

“Thanks.” 

Surprised, it took Roman a second to think up a response. Finally he rolled his eyes. “Whatever, Hot Topic.”

He walked back to the room and shut the door, just as Virgil shouted, “Aww, you think I’m hot!” back at him. 

Roman couldn’t help but chuckle.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter is coming out so late. I haven't been sleeping well so I spent a lot of today resting.  
> Thank you to everyone who's left such amazing comments. Honestly ya'll are great :)

“Loooggannnnnn I’m booorreedddd.” 

“It’s eight in the morning, Roman, we haven’t even started the day yet.” 

“Buuuuuttt stilllllllllll,” Roman whines. “I have to stay here all day.” 

“Yes, that is unfortunate,” Logan says with a sigh, picking up his toiletry bag. “If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go brush my teeth.”

“Ugh, you’re not help,” Roman huffs. Logan just shakes his head and leaves the room. Honestly, Roman was too dramatic for his own good sometimes. 

After brushing his teeth and making sure that his clothes were in adequate order, Logan headed back to his room to deposit the bag. He noticed Roman in the lounge talking with Patton, which meant that the only person left in the room would be Virgil. Logan had to hold in a sigh. If the other boy was sleeping in again…

Logan opened the door and froze for a moment. Virgil was, in fact, not lying on his bed like he had been when Logan had left, but instead was standing in front of the full-length mirror provided in the room, his shirt pulled up to his chin. Logan couldn’t help but stare. There were deep purple bruises all over Virgil’s ribs, big ones too. There also seemed to be some older bruises that were at least a few days old along side the newer ones. Virgil winced as he examined them, looking the most vulnerable as Logan had ever seen him. 

Frantically, Logan searched his mind for any instance in which Virgil could’ve gotten injured like this. However, unless something happened when Virgil wasn’t around them…well there were a few things Logan could think of, one of them being a certain boy who seemed to have it out for Virgil this summer. 

Just then, Virgil looked up and met Logan’s eyes in the reflection of the mirror. Immediately he yanked his shirt down and turned away with a scowl. 

“Virgil—” Logan tried, but Virgil had closed himself off. He grabbed is headphones, yanking them around his neck and pushed past Logan. 

“Don’t Logan,” he mutters. “Just…just don’t.” then he walked out the door, leaving Logan staring after him. 

 

Roman laid back on the couch in the lounge of the cabin, one of Logan’s books in his hand. It was all about stars and their alignments, which Roman wouldn’t think he’d find interesting, but there were also chapters about the stories behind all the constellations in here, which he did find particularly enjoyable to read about. He perked up, though, when he heard the door to the cabin open. 

“Ro?” Thomas calls. 

Roman sits up, peaking over the wall that separated the lounge from the door. “Hello!” he calls. He frowned a little when he saw that Joan was with him, and he couldn’t help but think that he was in even more trouble. 

The two come around the corner and note his book. “Is that Logan’s?” Thomas asks, pointing to the book. 

“Ah…yes?” Roman says, knowing full well that he did not, exactly, have permission to read the book. It wasn’t like he’d gone through Logan’s things, though. 

The book had been left on the side table and really then it’s anybody’s game. The nightstand was neutral ground, everybody’s knows that. 

Thomas sighs and holds his hand out, making Roman bashfully hand over the book. Joan just smiles, pretending they hadn’t seen anything.  
“So, Roman,” Joan says, “how do you feel about joining your cabinmates this afternoon?” 

That got Roman’s attention. “I’m not suspended anymore?” he asks. 

“Nope,” Thomas says with a smile, tucking Logan’s book under his arm. “Virgil cleared your name.”  
“He…he did?” Roman asks, blinking in surprise. 

“Yep. He backed up what you and your friends had been saying,” Joan says. “If you want, you can go join them in their free time right now.” 

Roman didn’t have to be told twice. He hated having to be cooped up in the cabin all day. He did pause, though, and turned to look at the counselors. “Virgil…did he talk to you yesterday?” 

“Yes,” Joan says. “Why?” 

Roman thought about when his roommate had left, not long after Roman glaring daggers at him as he’d told his events of the story. Then Virgil coming back in a panic, completely freaked out about something that had happened. 

If Virgil had gone to talk to Joan after their talk with Thomas yesterday, and considering his seeming lack of ability to hold a conversation with another person for too long…

It clicked in his mind then, maybe why Virgil was so guarded. There were still pieces of the puzzle missing, but it was enough to make Roman feel like a complete and utter asshole. 

“Roman?” Thomas asks. “You okay?” 

Roman blinked, realizing he’d spaced out for a moment. He refocused on the counselors and nodded. "Yeah…yeah I’m fine. Um, would you happen to know where everyone is?” 

“The last I saw Logan and Patton, they were headed to the rec building. Virgil’s with Cassie and Alyssa in the arts and crafts building,” Thomas says, still giving him a worried look. 

“Thank you,” Roman says, then bounds out of the cabin, relived to be free. 

 

Virgil sat next to the window in the arts and crafts room, Alyssa and Cassie chattering away in front of him. Travis was off somewhere with his roommates, Alyssa had told him. Something about a basketball game. She’d said that they’d be find with adding him if he wanted to join them, but Virgil had declined. He wasn’t in much of a condition to play today. 

He’d been on edge all day, waiting for the moment Frank was going to pounce. He supposed that being suspended, there was little Frank could do. Still, though, Virgil was nervous. What would Frank do to him? Beat him up even more? Something worse? 

He supposed Virgil could’ve just gone back to Joan, taken everything back blamed Roman for what happened. After Roman had helped him, though…well Virgil knew that he couldn’t. Roman didn’t deserve to be punished, and Virgil kinda owed him at this point, in a weird way. Besides, Virgil got the feeling that Joan wouldn’t have believed him anyway. 

He was also pretty upset that Logan had seen his bruises this morning. Would he go to Thomas? Joan? One of the other counselors? Virgil hadn’t been able to look his roommate in the eye all day. 

Out the window, Virgil could see Roman jogging towards the rec building. He let out a sigh of relief. Joan or Thomas must have told him he could go back to his activities. 

“Virge? Earth to Virgil.” 

Virgil blinked and looked away from the window to see the two girls staring at him. “Sorry,” he mumbles. 

“Don’t’ worry about it,” Alyssa says. “I was just wondering what you were thinking about. You’ve been kinda spaced out all day.” 

Virgil shrugs. He wasn’t willing to bring them into his drama. There wasn’t any reason to. Frank would only target him because, apparently, they’re enemies now. The less people involved the better. “Guess it’s just been one of those days.” 

“Ah yes, one of those days,” Alyssa says with a small smile. “The days that everyone has. Days that are days.” 

Virgil rolled his eyes, but he couldn’t help the small smile on his lips. “Haha very funny.” 

“I got a smile,” Alyssa says, “I count that as a win.” 

Virgil just shook his head and looked down at the dragon sketch he’d been working on. He didn’t feel particularly inspired to draw anything at the moment, so he just slid the paper silently to Cassie, who looked up from her own drawing. 

“Seriously, Virgil, is everything okay?” Cassie asks, taking the paper and slipping it inside her sketch book. 

Again, Virgil just shrugs, looking back out the window. 

“Alright, if you want to talk, feel free,” Cassie says, and the girls left him to his own thoughts. 

 

“Logan, Patton,” Roman says, rushing over to where his friends were lounging in the rec room. They seemed to be in the middle of a game of cards, but both of them looked up as Roman came rushing in. 

“Roman, what are you doing here?” Logan asks. “Aren’t you on suspension?” 

“No,” Roman says, plopping down between them. “Apparently Virgil went to Joan yesterday and told them I wasn’t the one to blame.” 

“Well that was sure nice of him,” Patton says. “See Virgil does have a heart.”

“Well of course he has a heart Patton, otherwise he couldn’t live,” Logan says. 

“It’s called a figure of speech,” Roman says distantly. “Anyway, that’s not the point. I feel that we have greatly wronged Virgil in our treatment of him thus far.”  
“I feel the need to remind you that he is the one who first wronged us,” Logan says, adjusting his glasses. “Or do you not remember our conversation when we first met him?” 

“Yes, but why did he act like that?” Roman asks. “Why does he not seem to care?” 

Patton nods, as if happy to finally be trying to figure this out. “He doesn’t’ seem to mind Alyssa, Cassie, and Travis,” he points out. 

“Precisely. What have they done that we have not?” Roman asks. 

“I suppose it is odd,” Logan mutters. He sounded distracted. Roman turned to him, frowning. 

“You sound like you know something,” Roman says. 

Logan shakes his head. “It is…it is not my business to talk about. What did you have in mind?” 

 

“Why do you hang out with me?” 

Alyssa and Cassie both froze what they were doing and looked up at Virgil. He was still staring out the window, a glossy look in his eyes. 

“What do you mean Virge?” Cassie asks. 

“I mean why do you hang out with me?” Virgil asks again. “I push everyone else away, but you guys didn’t seem to let me. Why? What did I do?” 

The girls exchange a look. “You didn’t…do anything,” Alyssa says, a bit confused. “We like hanging out with you.” 

“But why?” Virgil asks again, this time looking over at them. 

“Well,” Alyssa starts with a small sigh, “it’s not because we feel bad for you, so don’t think that.” 

“We just like your company,” Cassie says. “Isn’t that enough reason?” 

“Is that why you two are friends?” Virgil asks, looking from one to the other. 

“How we became friends is a…complicated story,” Alyssa says, exchanging amused looks with Cassie. “But yeah, I guess when you boil it down we just like hanging out with each other.” 

Cassie sets her sketch book aside. “Ally and I are lost souls,” she says, propping her head on her hand. “We’ve been through a lot together and apart. My mom says we’re good at finding other lost souls because of it. Maybe you’re one too.” 

“Hey, poetic speeches are my thing,” Alyssa teases, nudging Cassie’s shoulder. 

“Well sorry to steal your thunder,” Cassie says, rolling her eyes. 

Virgil shakes his head. “I figured you’d take offense to me not caring about this camp at all.” 

Alyssa chuckles. “Nah, you’re allowed to feel however you want about camp. Most people here are just biased because we’ve all come here since we were little. Most of the counselors were campers at one point in their lives. There are a lot of people who are defensive about it, so don’t take it personally. Most people don’t care.” 

“Yeah, and besides, if you’re going to have to just power through the summer, why do it alone?” Cassie asks. 

Virgil studies them both for a moment, then offers a small smile. “I…I guess.” 

Alyssa grins. “Here,” she says, “I’ve been working on something.” She unties the bracelet she’d been working on from the board and motions to Virgil’s arm. “Give me your wrist.” 

Hesitantly, Virgil holds out his wrist, and Alyssa ties the bracelet around it, making sure to not make it too tight or too loose. “There,” she says. “Now you have the cheesiest, most tacky summer camp thing possible. A friendship bracelet.” 

“We make em every year, just to have something from camp,” Cassie says. “Now you have something to prove at least something happened over the summer.” 

Virgil stared at the black and purple strings like he couldn’t comprehend why it was on his wrist. He opened his mouth to say something, but was quickly interrupted. 

“Hello my friends!” Roman’s booming voice calls, making them all jump in surprise. 

“Jesus, Roman, don’t do that!” Alyssa exclaims, putting her hand over her heart. 

“My apologies, Alyssa,” Roman says quickly. He stands at the head of the small table his hands clasped behind his back casually. “How has you afternoon been?”  
“Fine,” Cassie says. “I see that you’ve been released from the cabin.” 

“Yes, it seems that Joan was told I was not the one to blame,” Roman says, and with that he looks at Virgil, who had slumped down in his seat and was glaring at the table. “Virgil?” 

“What do you want Princey?” Virgil mutters. 

“I would like to thank you for telling Joan the truth.” 

“You don’t have to thank me,” Virgil mutters, “I just did the right thing.” 

“Precisely,” Roman says. “I’m afraid I treated you unfairly. I’d like to make it up to you.” 

Virgil looked up at that, looking guarded. “You…what?” 

Roman grinned and reached over, grabbing Virgil’s wrist and pulling him to his feet. “Come on.” 

Virgil shot Alyssa and Cassie a panicked look before being pulled out of his chair and towards the door of the building. Alyssa and Cassie, after taking a moment to take in what had just happened, quickly got up to follow. 

 

“Roman where the hell are you—”

“Hello my fellow campers!” Roman exclaims, jumping onto the stage. 

“Taking me,” Virgil finishes, stopping on the stage that Roman had quite literally dragged him on.

They were at the outdoor stage, usually where assemblies are held (unless it’s raining), and Roman was currently standing on it with Virgil beside him and Patton and Logan behind them. 

Several campers stopped to see what was going on, as someone thought it had been a good idea to give Roman a microphone. Virgil stared out in horror. He could see Alyssa and Cassie catching up with them, both of them looking about as horrified as Virgil felt. 

Virgil glanced back at Patton and Logan. Patton grinned at him and gave him a thumbs up, while Logan only looked slightly bored with a guitar in his lap. 

Nonononononononononononononononononono

This wasn’t happening, this couldn’t be happening, Virgil refused to believe that his life was real at the moment. 

“Hello,” Roman says, waving to several people. “I’m going to perform a song in honor of my friend here,” he motions to Virgil, who at that moment wanted nothing more than to disappear into the netherworld and never return. “It’s going to be a way of making up for some of my mistakes, so Virgil, if you will,” Roman motions for Virgil to get off the stage. 

Well you don’t have to tell him twice. Virgil hops down, his face red. He could feel the eyes of dozens of campers on him, and his hands immediately went to his fidget cube to focus his energy on. 

Logan got ready with the guitar, still looking incredibly bored, and started playing. After a few beats, Roman started singing. 

“I’m really sorry Virgil…” 

Virgil couldn’t help but cringe. He knew the song, but Roman was changing all the lyrics to fit whatever situation this was. Logan, for his part, was actually able to play the guitar at least. Patton just seemed to be in charge of making sure the sound didn’t go out. 

The more Roman sang, the more of a crowd he gathered, and the more anxious Virgil grew. Everyone knew who Roman was singing, to and everyone seemed to be trying not to laugh. Eventually, the lyrics started to drown out and Virgil couldn’t focus anymore. He turned and shoved through the growing crowd, or tried to. He noticed some of Franks friends who looked like they’d stumbled upon gold. They grabbed him, forcing him to stay in place. 

“Where do you think you’re going?” One of them asks. 

“Yeah your boyfriends are playing something for you!” the other mocked. 

That just made Virgil fight harder. He needed to get away from all these people. Once he was in an open space again, he’d be fine but right now he needed out.  
“Hey, let him go!” Travis’s voice cuts through some of Virgil’s panic. The two boys were shoved away and a hand clamps down on Virgil’s wrist, pulling him out of the crowd. 

“Virgil are you okay?” Alyssa asks as Travis releases him. 

Virgil looks up and around, realizing that everything had stopped. The music, the voices. Everyone was staring at him now. His roommates were looking at him with confused and apologetic eyes. 

“Virgil?” Roman asks into the microphone. 

Virgil just shakes his head and runs, praying no one would chase after him. 

 

“I just don’t get it!” Roman exclaims. He, Patton, and Logan were standing beside the stage. It had taken everyone a few moments after Virgil had left to calm down and disperse—though it had taken the help of some counselors. “doesn’t everyone want some kind of grand apology?”

“Perhaps Virgil is different,” Logan says, rolling his eyes. 

Roman scowls. He spots Alyssa and Cassie talking with Travis. “You!” he shouts, pointing to the trio. 

The three of them freeze and look over as Roman stormed over to them. “What are we doing wrong?” 

“Well first of all you changed too many lyrics…” Alyssa started

“I mean with Virgil,” Roman says. “You three seemed to have befriended him so easily. What have we done wrong?” 

“That, for one,” Travis says, pointing to the stage. 

“We thought Virgil would like a good song,” Patton says, joining them. 

“I, for one, was not given a choice,” Logan mutters. 

“You don’t get it, do you?” Alyssa asks. “big in-your-face stuff like that is not something someone like Virgil would enjoy.” 

“What do you mean?” Roman asks. 

Alyssa and Cassie exchange a look wile Travis just shook his head. “Look, I’m not pretending to know Virgil,” Alyssa says. “but I…well I think we might have a bit in common. People aren’t his forte.”

“But you’re great with people!” Patton exclaims. 

Alyssa smiles at that. “Thanks Pat, but I’ve learned how to handle my own emotions regarding certain things. Virgil hasn’t. I’m just saying that sometimes...sometimes you’ve got to know when he needs to be alone, and sometimes you have to know when he wants to be alone with someone.” 

“Also maybe think about what he would like rather than what you would like,” Cassie points out, motioning to the stage. 

“So rather than big gestures, try smaller ones. They say a lot more than you might think,” Alyssa says, who smiles at Travis as he walks over to her and laces his hand with hers. 

“I think I understand,” Logan says when Roman and Patton just stare at her. “Perhaps with out bluntness and your over the top personality, Virgil was overwhelmed.” 

“Could be,” Cassie says with a shrug. “Though you guys really dug yourselves into a hole with this.” 

“Hmm,” Roman says, tapping chin. “You’re right, you’re right. So we must show our apology through grand smaller gestures. Less public more personal. I know! I shall make him a glittery castle out of clay!” 

“Uh Roman I don’t think—”

Ignoring Cassie, Roman grabs Patton’s hand. “Come my friend, we must begin our Trials of Apology!” 

Logan watches as the two run off, wondering what in the world he’d gotten himself into this summer. 

“Yeah, good luck with them,” Alyssa says. 

“Thank you,” Logan says. “I shall need it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song Roman sings is Apology Song by The Decemberists, in case you wanted to know


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I'm not dead! Sorry for such a delay on this story. I had to take a break because there were too many things I needed to write over on my Tumblr. Lame excuse, but I just couldn't prioritize this story. I also think I needed to walk away from it for a few weeks and boy did that break help. This chapter isn't much, I admit, but it was really nice to jump back into it.   
> My Tumblr is @sanders-specs, by the way. I remember seeing someone ask. It's also your best bet for any kind of updates about this story, or if you just wanted to talk and ask questions about it. By no means do you have to follow me, though. This is just for those wondering.

Virgil decided that he preferred it when Roman hated him. 

It seemed that every time Virgil turned a corner, the other boy was there trying to give some sort of apology or gift. It had gotten to the point where Patton was trying to as well, though it seemed that, thankfully, Logan had left the two to their own devices. Virgil had taken to staying out of their room as much as possible, sneaking out at night just in case Roman decided to try something while Virgil was asleep. 

It didn’t help with his anxiety either. As the days passed, Virgil grew more and more anxious about Frank. Things were too quiet. Even at the end of the week when Frank returned to activities, the most he ever did was sneer at Virgil, maybe trip him up if no on was looking. With Roman constantly trying to corner him for a different reason, Virgil never had any time to breathe. 

His new friends (Virgil was still trying to get used to thinking that he actually had friends) weren’t helping much either. 

“He just wants to be friends with you Virge,” Alyssa said one afternoon as Virgil shrunk down in his seat, trying to pretend like Roman and Patton weren’t trying to get his attention. 

“Since when?!” Virgil whisper shouts. “He hated me last week!” 

“Something must have changed,” Cassie says, glancing back at them and obviously trying very hard not to smile. “If you don’t want them to keep bugging you, tell them to stop.”

Virgil didn’t answer at that, because honestly, he didn’t know what that would do to Roman or Patton if Virgil straight up denied their efforts. It was just all…overwhelming. He went from being a nobody who everyone hated to having friends and there being people who wanted to be his friends. If it weren’t for the bracelet Alyssa had given him, he would’ve said that this was all some weird lucid dream he was having. 

“You know, most people wouldn’t be hiding from the attention of Roman,” Cassie says. “Him and Rose are something like celebrities.” 

“Hmm are you sure about that?” Alyssa asks. “Because I think you might be a bit biased.” 

Cassie’s cheeks flushed a bit. “Shut up Ally.” 

Alyssa just chuckled and went back to the notebook she’d been writing in. 

Virgil didn’t have much time to think about what that exchange meant before one of the siblings in question was sauntering over to them. 

“Hey Virgil,” Rose says, putting her hands on the table and leaning close, lowering her voice. Cassie, who was closest to her, flushed even more. “Look, I get that my brother is being really annoying. I’ve been trying to get him to let up, but we’re a stubborn family. Is there anything I can do to help keep him away?” 

Virgil glances at Roman and Patton, who seemed to be trying to pretend they weren’t watching the exchange. It was clear that they thought Rose was over here for a different reason. 

“An afternoon,” Virgil mutters, rubbing at the headache that was forming. “I just want an afternoon to myself.” 

Rose nods. “I can do that. There’s a movie showing after activities, I’ll convince him to go with me.” 

Virgil lets out a sigh. “thanks. I assume you want something in exchange?” Virgil asks, eyeing Rose suspiciously. 

“Yes,” Rose says with a smile. “Indulge my brother in one of his stupid ideas. Take it from me, it’ll be interesting.” She turned and walked away, Virgil and his friends staring after her. 

After a moment, Alyssa had to cover he mouth to try and hide her laughter. Cassie looked just as amused, and Travis wasn’t even trying to hide it. 

“You totally fell for that,” Travis says, laughing. 

Virgil scowled, slinking lower in his chair and glared at the siblings, both of whom were smiling at him. 

 

After activities that day, Virgil went to the cabin, feeling relieved to see Rose walking away with Patton and Roman, knowing he had the afternoon to himself. What he hadn’t thought about, though, was Logan. He was in their room when Virgil walked in, sitting on his bunk and flipping through one of his books (seriously, how many books did a kid need at a camp?). 

He looks up when Virgil comes in, and Virgil only nods at him before going over to his own bunk. Logan hadn’t said anything to Virgil about seeing Virgil’s bruises, but he was waiting for it. Logan didn’t seem to be the kind of boy who let something like that go. He might have seemed uncaring and emotionless at the beginning, but after observing him for a while, Virgil figured that Logan just didn’t like to show his feelings. He helped Roman and Patton with their stupid ideas anyway, so some part of him must care. 

For a while, only awkward silence filled the room. Then Logan snapped his book shut and stood. “Virgil?” 

Here we go…

Virgil looked up at Logan and blinked. Logan looked a bit uncomfortable; he kept shifting on his feet and wouldn’t look Virgil in the eye. “I…um…I saw Frank and his friends headed towards the movie,” Logan says. “So…if you wanted to spend the afternoon outside, you don’t have to worry about them.” 

Virgil stared at his roommate, wondering how Logan could possibly know how scared Virgil was for Franks revenge. He decided not to question it, not wanting to push his luck. 

“Alright. What about you, not going with dumb and dumber to the movie?” Virgil asks casually. 

Logan lips quirked a bit. “I have no intention of spending a perfectly nice afternoon like this in a darkened room with those two,” he says matter-of-factly. “I’ve let them distract me from my studies of the flora here long enough. I’m quite looking forward to spending some time in the forest.” 

Virgil felt a small smile spread on his lips. “We’ll have to agree to disagree on the best way to spend our time, Specs,” Virgil says. 

Logan’s eyes sparked with amusement at the nickname. “I suppose we shall. I’ll see you later, Virgil. Perhaps you can make it to dinner tonight.” 

“Doubtful,” Virgil says, “but have fun.” 

Logan nods and leaves. The door to the cabin echoes as it slams behind him, further proving that the cabin was completely empty.

Virgil sat back on his back, tucking his arm behind his head, planning to enjoy the silence for once. After a few minutes, though, he was getting angsty and uncomfortable. It was too silent. Too still. The room started to feel too small and the air too muggy. Scrambling to his feet, Virgil scoops up his headphones and phone before leaving the cabin. 

 

“How dare that boy ruin the best part of the movie!” Roman exclaims. “Right before the first Quidditch game! Everyone knows that’s the best part of any Harry Potter movie and Frank just goes and ruins it!” 

Patton sighs, only half-way listening to Roman. Sure, it sucked that Frank had been messing with them throughout the entire movie, forcing them to leave early, but what had bothered Patton more than missing the second half of Sorcerer's Stone was what Frank had been muttering to his friends. He was pretty sure Roman had missed it, since he’d been very into the movie, but Patton had heard every word. They’d been talking about the ‘little twerp who ratted him out’ and how they were going to ‘make him pay.’

It bothered Patton a lot. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that they were talking about Virgil. Honestly, it was Franks own fault that he’d gotten suspended, not Virgil’s. Virgil had just been doing the right thing…

Patton sighed again, mentally shaking himself. He remembered Logan telling him once that some people are just too selfish for their own good. Frank seemed like one of those people. He seemed like the kind of person who Patton despised—and Patton never used that word lightly—someone who only ever thinks of themselves and felt that their actions were always right, no matter what anyone else around them thought. 

“Patton, are you even listening?” Roman asks. 

Blinking, Patton turns to Roman and gives an apologetic smile. “Sorry Ro, guess my mind was wondering a bit.” 

Roman huffs. “Well at least this means we can think of another thing to do for Virgil.” 

“Not that I’m against this,” Patton says, “but why did you suddenly decide to start being so nice to Virgil? I’ve been wondering.” 

Roman stops, looking over at Patton with a thoughtful look. “I suppose…well he did get me out of suspension.” 

“Yeah but there’s something else,” Patton says, stepping up onto a tree root and balancing on it. “Do you like him?” 

Roman sputtered at that. “Wh-what? Patton that is absurd!” 

Patton shrugs. “I was just asking. He is cute, in his own way.” 

“You think everyone is cute,” Roman mutters. 

“True,” Patton says with a grin, rocking back and forth on the tree root. “So why do you want to be so nice to him all of a sudden, if you’re not crushing on him?”   
“I don’t know,” Roman admits. “I want to re-pay the kindness he gave me. He didn’t have to go to Joan, you know? And….” His voice trailed off. Patton looked over at him and saw that he was staring off in the distance, a thoughtful look on his face. Patton jumped down from the tree root and leaned against its owner, patiently waiting for Roman to gather his thoughts. 

“When he came back to the cabin after talking with Joan,” Roman says finally, “he was having a panic attack. I didn’t know what it was from, but when Thomas and Joan came to talk to me, I figured it was from his conversation with Joan. He doesn’t seem to like to talk to authority figures that much.” 

Patton raised his eyebrows. “So you feel bad for him?” 

“A little, I suppose,” Roman says. “I wanted to repay what he did for me and say sorry for not understanding before, but now…” he shrugs. “I want to understand.”   
Patton smiles. “Me too,” he says, bouncing on his toes. 

“What are you two doing out here?” 

Roman and Patton turn to see Logan walking towards them, his notebook in hand. “Frank ruined the movie,” Roman says, rolling his eyes and crossing his arms, “I couldn’t sit through that.” 

Logan nods. “You wouldn’t have happened to hear him mention Virgil, at all, would you?” 

“A little,” Patton admits. “Why?” 

Logan shakes his head, turning away from Patton and Roman. “I have a bad feeling about Frank’s intentions to get back at Virgil. We all know it’s coming, including Virgil, and it’s messing him up.” 

Patton worried his lip. “Do you think we should tell Thomas?” 

“I do not think that there is much Thomas can do aside from keep an eye on Virgil and Frank when they’re near each other,” Logan says with a small shrug. “At least until Frank does something. Even then it would have to be proven.” 

“And Thomas can’t watch them all the time,” Roman points out. 

Patton sighs. This wasn’t how he’d imagined this summer was going to go. Of course, Frank was always a downer to be around, but Patton hadn’t seen him be this mean since…well since he’d targeted Patton and Logan. There was nothing Patton could do about it, though. The most he could do was try to give Virgil a good summer. 

Well that was turning out great, wasn’t it?

“Patton?” 

Patton blinked and found his friends look at him. He smiled and straightened up. “Sorry, got lost in thought for a bit.” 

“Are you okay, Pat?” Roman asks. “You’ve been out of it all day.” 

“I’m fine,” Patton says. “Just got a lot on my mind today.” 

Roman and Logan exchange a look. “Do you need to talk about anything, Patton?” Logan asks. 

“Nope!” Patton says. “What, a guy can’t get a little lost in thought every now and again?”

“I suppose not,” Logan says. “However, we are getting into the second week and—”

Logan was cut off by the siren echoing off the trees. The sign that it was dinner time. “Well would you look at that. Another day has gone by,” Patton says.   
Roman sighs. “Yes, let’s go. Maybe we can think up of some good ideas…” 

Patton followed behind Logan and Roman, humming to himself. They started passed the lake when Patton saw a familiar headphone wearing figure. “Hey there’s Virgil! Do you think he heard the dinner bell?” 

“Unlikely,” Logan says. 

“Yeah, he’s wearing those headphones, he’s probably got his music turned up all the way,” Roman says. 

“That’s very bad for you hearing,” Logan mutters. 

“I’ll go get him,” Patton says. 

“Pat, wait,” Roman says. “Do you really think he’ll want to come to dinner tonight? He hasn’t all week.” 

Patton put his hands on his hips. “Well there’s no harm in asking, now is there?” 

Logan and Roman exchanged another look, then shrugged. “We’ll save you a seat, then,” Roman says. 

Patton waves to them, then starts over to Virgil. 

 

Virgil sat facing the lake, his arms propped on his knees. He had his headphones on, blocking out all sound. There were a few kids around, but for the most part this side of the lake was empty. Everyone was either at the movie or spending their free time doing something else. Virgil hadn't been able to stand the thought of being crammed into a room with a hundred other campers for two and half hours, so he came here. 

He watched the lake as the music surrounded him. He felt himself relax, let the notes wrap him in a comforting blanket. A wind blew off the lake, welcome against the stuffing heat. Virgil took a deep breath, taking in that wind, closing his eyes and tilting his head up towards the sun. He felt, for the first time since he arrived at camp, at peace. 

He didn't know how long he sat there. He lost track of how many songs passed. All he knew was that he didn't want the moment to end. 

Of course, all of that lasted until someone lightly tapped his arm, making him jump and shove his headphones off down to his neck. He whirled around and saw Patton froze where he crouched just behind Virgil. 

“Jesus Christ Patton, you scared me,” Virgil says. “Don’t you know not to sneak up on a guy wearing headphones?” 

Patton smiled slightly. “It’s hard not to when you’re listening to it so loudly,” he says. 

Virgil scowls and turns back around. 

Patton sits down next to him. “I know you wanted the afternoon to yourself, but the dinner bell rang.” 

“That late already huh?” Virgil asked with a small sigh. “Aren’t summer days supposed to last longer?” 

Patton chuckles at that. “I think this is the first time we’ve talked for more than two seconds.” 

“I’m in a good mood,” Virgil mutters. 

Patton grins at that. “That’s great! It’s always nice to have good days. “ 

Virgil didn’t respond to that, but kept staring at the lake. He didn’t really want to admit that this had been a pretty good day. He was starting to get the hang of all the activities and the schedule. Even with Frank back and Roman and Patton constantly bugging him…the day hadn’t been terrible. 

“What do you want, Patton?” Virgil asks. “Is this another one of yours and Princey’s plans?” 

Patton chuckles. “No. I was wondering if you wanted to come eat with us.” 

Virgil gulped, looking down and starting to pull out blades of grass to give his hands something to do. “I don’t think so,” he mutters. 

“Can I ask why?” Patton asks gently. 

When Virgil shrugs, he sighs. “Virge you can’t go the entire summer without eating dinner. It’s not healthy.” 

“Maybe I don’t like the food here,” Virgil says. “Did you ever think about that?” 

“Have you tried it? Other than the breakfasts and lunches, I mean.” 

Virgil couldn’t answer that because, of course, he hadn’t. He just glared at the ground. 

“Look Virgil if it’s us I’m sure that Alyssa and Cassie won’t mind you sitting with them,” Patton says. “I can get Roman to leave you alone—”

“It’s not that,” Virgil says, cutting the other boy off. “I mean…I mean it’s not…it’s not you guys. Or them.” 

Patton blinks, leaning back on his hands. “Okay.” He fell silent, not pressing anything, but not letting it go either. Virgil had the feeling that he would’ve sat there all night until Virgil spoke. 

“It’s everyone,” Virgil mutters after a few moments of thought. “Everyone crowded together,” he picks at the grass, “pressed together forced to breathe the same air. Everyone talking at once, the smell of the food all mixing together. It’s just all…too much to even think about.”

Patton was silent and for a moment Virgil thought for sure that he had officially done it and made Patton think that he was too weird to be around. He braced himself for Patton to tell him that his feelings were wrong or stupid. Who got uncomfortable in a cafeteria? Who was ever so afraid of people in general?  
“Okay,” Patton says finally. “I can’t blame you really. When you put it like that it does sound horrible.” He stands, brushing himself off, then extends a hand to Virgil. “Why don’t you head on back to the cabin then? Some counselors get a bit cranky if they see you’re not at dinner.” 

Slightly stunned, Virgil allows Patton to pull him to his feet. They walked in a comfortable silence—well as silent as it could be with Patton humming—until they had to part ways. Patton grinned and waved as he ran off towards the mess hall, leaving Virgil to walk back to the cabin alone. 

 

Virgil was lying in his bunk, his eyes closed as he listened to his music without his headphones for once, and jumped when he heard the door to the cabin slam shut. He looked over when the door to his room opened and Patton walked in, two containers in hand. 

Slowly Virgil sat up. “I thought you were having dinner.” 

“I am,” Patton says. “With you.” he hands Virgil one of the containers. “I’ve gotten pretty close with one of the cooks over the years and she didn’t mind at all when I asked if I could have a to-go dinner for me and my roommate.” Patton grins, settling on Virgil’s bed and opening his container. “Well?” he asks when Virgil just stares at him. “Dig in! it’s spaghetti night, and you do not want to miss out on this garlic bread.” 

Virgil wasn’t sure what to make of this. Sure, Patton had been trying to do these weird nice things for him for a while now, but those had all been Roman’s plans, so they were…on the eccentric side. This though…Virgil had never had someone bring him food before. Never. He’d always been expected to seek out his own meals or he wouldn’t eat. 

“Come on kiddo, it’s not that bad,” Patton says, shoving a mouthful of the food into his mouth, as if to emphasize. 

Virgil shook himself mentally and glared a little at Patton. “I’m not a child, you know,” he says, opening his own container. Patton just grinned at him and watched as Virgil took a bite. 

The food wasn’t half bad.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Looks who's back! And with a new chapter no less. 
> 
> I'm really sorry for leaving this fic for so long. Honestly I needed to walk away from it for a while. I wasn't getting inspiration for it anymore and there were so many other ideas for other stories that I wanted to focus on. I'm trying to get back into this story and hopefully continue it. I won't be sticking to any kind of update schedule because I learned quickly that those just don't work well for me. Just thank you guys for your support on this, I'm really glad you love it as much as you do. Enjoy :)
> 
> warnings: this chapter has some physical fighting, blood mention, and an almost drowning

Virgil stood in front of the mirror in his room and winced at the sight of his chest and ribs. The bruises were healing, but slowly. Now they were a disgusting yellow color, and still hurt to the touch. He shoved his shirt down, turning from the mirror to straighten up his bunk. 

“Hey Virgil!” Patton called, poking his head into the room. “Wanna come play freeze tag with us?” 

“What are we? Twelve?” Virgil asked. 

“Oh, c’mon kiddo it’ll be fun!” Patton exclaimed. “Besides you can’t stay cooped up in this cabin all the time.” 

Virgil sighed, and turned around to sit on his bunk. “No offense but I’d rather avoid any kind of exercise if I can help it.” 

Patton’s shoulders slumped, and Virgil felt a twinge of guilt. He’d been trying, really trying, to not push the others away as much. It was the least he could do after what Patton had done for him the other day. Still, though, it was hard to be around them sometimes. Roman was still trying to get him to go on “adventures” with him and making him weird gifts, Logan never seemed to be able to take any form of a joke without ruining it, and Patton was just a little...much sometimes. 

“Well, we’ll be on the main field if you change your mind,” Patton said. Virgil just nodded, and the other boy left. 

Virgil sighed and finished straightening up his corner of the room before heading out of the cabin himself. He figured he’d go hide in the arts and crafts room for the afternoon, at least until a counselor kicked him out. He’d figured out that Frank usually stayed away from the building, if he could help it. If Virgil could get there without any confrontation, then he’d be safe. With multiple counselors there to watch over everything, it should be safe. 

“Hey Virgil!” 

Virgil stopped and looked up. He realized he’d been passing the main field on his way to the arts and crafts building, where the freeze tag game was in full swing. He could see his roommates, Travis, Rose, and a few other campers all running around, laughing and cursing at each other as they played. Alyssa and Cassie, though, seemed to have paused to wave at him. 

“Want to come join us?” Cassie called. 

“I’m good,” Virgil called back, saluting them and turning to walk away. 

“Wait!” 

Virgil sighs but turns around as Cassie jogs over to him. She smiles and puts a gentle had on his shoulder. “I think you’ve got company,” she whispered.  
Virgil looked over his shoulder and saw Frank and his friends not too far behind him. They looked innocent enough, seeming to be headed in the opposite direction as him. Virgil tensed as Cassie squeezed his shoulder in reassurance. 

“We saw them following you,” Cassie said. “Where are you going anyway?” 

“I was going to the arts and crafts building,” Virgil muttered. 

Cassie nodded and bit her lip, looking over at where Frank and his friends had barely moved. She shook her head. “They’re idiots if they think this’ll work,” she said with a sigh. “Come join us Verge. I know it’s probably the last thing you want to do, but there are a ton of counselors acting as refs for the game. Plus, you’ll be with all of us. They won’t touch you so far in the open.” 

Virgil nodded, and Cassie gave him a reassuring smile, tugging on his arm to pull him towards the field. Alyssa was waiting on them and she shot Virgil a smile. “Finally going to join in on the fun?” she asked in a teasing tone. Virgil shot her a small playful glare, but he couldn’t help but be tense. 

“Don’t worry about them,” Alyssa muttered as they walk towards the game. “Frank’s an idiot on good days.” 

Virgil tried to take their words as comfort, but he just couldn’t. Something told him that it was just a matter of time before Frank got his revenge on Virgil for ratting him out, and there was little Virgil would be able to do about it. A part of him hoped that Frank would just put him out of his misery already. 

Then again, that didn’t mean Virgil was just going to let himself walk into it. He looked over his shoulder and saw Frank glaring at him. They made eye contact for a moment, and Frank sneered before he led his friends away. Well, at least Virgil was safe for now. 

“Virgil!” Patton exclaimed, running over to him. “I thought you didn’t want to play.” 

Virgil scratched the back of his head. “I uh…I changed my mind,” he muttered. 

Patton grinned, his eyes lighting up so much that Virgil felt bad for lying. Patton grabbed Virgil’s wrist, pulling him further onto the field. “Well then come on! Right now, Rose is ‘it’ and she does not mess around!” with that, Patton took off running, dragging Virgil with him. 

 

After the game, all of them collapsed on the field, breathing hard from running around so much. Virgil, despite his reluctance, had found himself having a bit of fun, especially when Roman was ‘it’ since for some reason the other boy decided that Virgil would be his main target. Virgil had gotten revenge on him, though, tagging Roman far too easily during his own turn. 

“Well Verge,” Patton said, nudging Virgil’s shoulder. 

“It was alright,” Virgil said, falling onto his back and trying to catch his breath. He was hot and sweaty and honestly desperately wanted water. 

“I didn’t know you would be that fast, Virgil,” Logan said. 

“Ditto.” Logan was probably the best out of all of them at escaping, yet he was also good at catching people. They’d had to stop because Logan was just being plain unfair by being good at freeze tag. Virgil, however, had been at a close second. 

Virgil hadn’t had that much fun in…well in a long time. 

“Alright guys,” Thomas said, walking over to them. Virgil hadn’t even realized he’d been one of the counselors watching the game, but he walked over with a wide smile on his face. “Glad you’re all having fun. Now how about a nice swim to cool off?” 

Roman jumped to his feet. “We get the lake today?”

Thomas laughed. “Yes, Roman we do. Along with your cabins,” he looked at Alyssa, Cassie, Travis, and Rose. “We can go as soon as you guys are changed,” Thomas said to Virgil and his roommates before he walked off to join his counselor friends. 

“Alright!” Roman exclaims. “Come on guys, lets go!” he took off running towards the cabin, nearly knocking over a group of younger campers on their way to the stables. 

Virgil just watched his roommate as he ran and disappeared behind a cabin. “Should we be concerned?” He asked to no one in particular. 

“About Roman?” Rose asked. “Always.” 

 

By the time Virgil, Logan, and Patton got back to the cabin, Roman was already in his swim suit and he was spraying sunscreen over every part of his body.  
Virgil coughed as he entered the room. “Dude, do that outside.” 

“No need already done,” Roman said, throwing the sunscreen onto his bed. Virgil rolled his eyes and went to get his swimsuit. 

“So, what did you mean about us having the lake?” Virgil asked. “I figured you could just go swimming there whenever you wanted.” 

“Camp Swan works on a sign-up system,” Logan explained, “if a cabin wants to be able to swim in the lake during their free time, the counselor has to sign up for it. That way the lake isn’t overcrowded with every camper here. Usually there are seven or eight cabins worth of campers every afternoon, and with how many campers there are here, it’s sometimes hard to get a slot to the lake.”

Virgil nodded. He had to admit that he wasn’t exactly looking forward to this. Weren’t there a lot of bacteria and stuff in lakes? And fish? And besides he’d have to have his shirt off and the bruises hadn’t healed…

“I think I’ll stay here,” Virgil muttered, his hand dropping from his swim suit, which he’d half pulled out of his bag. 

His roommates all looked at him. “Why?” Patton asked, sounding disappointed. “Don’t you want to go swimming? We haven’t had a chance since camp started!”

“I’m not much of a swimmer.” 

Logan frowned at him, giving him a knowing look. Virgil gulped and looked away. “You guys have fun.” 

“No, I will not let you miss out on this!” Roman exclaimed. “It’s just swimming!” 

“Perhaps it would benefit you, Virgil,” Logan said coolly. “You do not even have to get in the water.” 

Virgil chewed his lip. He really didn’t want to have to answer questions about his bruises, but he was finding it harder and harder to argue with them. The thought of being stuck in the cabin by himself, for once, didn’t sound that appealing. 

“Come on kiddo, it’ll be fun!” Patton exclaimed, giving him wide, puppy dog eyes. 

Virgil sighed, remembering what Rose had told him the other day. He still, technically, had a favor he owed her, and if going to the stupid lake would do that then he supposed that he didn’t have a choice. 

“Fine,” he muttered, “but I’m not taking my shirt off.” 

 

As it turned out, none of his roommates were going to go shirtless either. 

When they got down to the lake, after meeting up with their friends, Patton had immediately jumped into the lake, followed by Roman, both without taking their shirts off. 

“What on Earth are they doing?” Rose asked, shaking her head before raising her voice. “You’re going to ruin your shirt Roman!” 

“It’s not important!” Roman called back. “Besides! I’m doing everyone a favor. Everyone would swoon at my fantastic body.” 

Rose just shook her head and mumbled something about idiotic brothers before taking off her cover and running to the dock before jumping into the lake. She immediately swam over to her brother and started splashing him. 

“Are you getting in Verge?” Alyssa asked. She’d already taken off the t-shirt and shorts that covered her swim suit. She had on a blue and black two piece that covered most of her stomach, though when she raised her arms he noticed the start of a white scar on her stomach. He quickly looked away before she noticed. They all had something to hide, evidently. 

“Probably not,” Virgil said. 

“Why?” she asked, sounding nothing but curious. 

Virgil shrugged. “I don’t really swim.” 

“Meaning that you can’t?” Cassie asked, joining them. She wore a yellow bikini that stuck out against her dark skin, looking as comfortable as if she were still in shorts and a t-shirt. It was his goal, he decided, to be as comfortable with his body as Cassie was in that moment. 

“I can swim,” Virgil said. “I just don’t like to.” 

“Fair enough,” Alyssa said, pulling up her hair. “What about you Lo?” 

Logan shrugged. “I might.” 

“Progress,” Cassie said with a teasing smile. “If either of you decide to jump in, I challenge you both to a race. I’ve been working on my stroke.” 

Alyssa rolled her eyes and pushed Cassie towards the water. “Just because you’ve been swimming with Lyndon doesn’t mean that you’re better at it,” she said, her voice fading as the two of them walked away. 

“Who?” Virgil asked Logan. 

Logan shrugged. “Perhaps one of their school friends.” 

Virgil blinked. He hadn’t thought about that. For a moment, he forgot that he and everyone else her had a life outside of this camp. He forgot that everyone didn’t just know each other at home. 

Logan set down a towel and sat, his eyes scanning those around him. Virgil sat next to him. “So. You don’t swim either huh?” 

“Not really,” Logan said. “Though it can be good exercise, I don’t particularly enjoy swimming in lakes. I’d prefer a pool that is kept clean and does not impose a risk to my health.” 

Huh, Virgil thought to himself, we have more in common than I thought. 

For a while, Virgil just watched the other kids. Like Logan said, there seemed to be quite a few more cabins here, but it seemed just enough that the lake didn’t feel overcrowded. Virgil saw some kids give them all jealous looks as they passed, headed to the quieter side of the lake to relax. 

Virgil turned his attention back to their side of the lake and watched as Patton and Roman splashed each other. Rose had gone to join Alyssa and Cassie, and he spotted Travis swimming over to them. 

They all looked…well, happy. Like they were having the time of their lives. 

“You look like you wish to join them,” Logan said. 

Virgil blinked and looked away. “No, just watching.” 

“Virgil you’re a terrible liar.” 

He looked up at the other boy who was studying him like a scientist would an undiscovered specimen. “What?” Virgil asked, squirming a little. 

Logan sighed and shook his head. After another moment of silence between them, Virgil cleared his throat. “Are you the one who convinced Roman and Patton to wear shirts in the water?” 

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” 

“Logan you’re a terrible liar.” 

Logan’s lips quirked up at that and he turned to look at Virgil. “I noticed how uncomfortable you looked at the prospect of swimming and I figured it might be because of your situation, so I told Roman you were probably self-conscious about your body—I apologize if that was too personal—and he and Patton agreed to wear their shirts to make you more comfortable.” Logan shrugs, like it was no big deal. 

Virgil gulped, looking away as he blinked back sudden tears. He didn’t know why that had made him so emotional. Probably because no one had ever really done anything like that for him. “Thanks, Lo.” 

“You’re welcome.” 

After that, the silence was more comfortable. The two of them were enjoying each other’s presence and just watched the other kids. At least until Roman came jogging over to them. 

Virgil noted that him wearing a shirt made zero difference since he decided to wear a white shirt. He was soaked, the shirt completely see-through. “Come on you two,” Roman says, putting his hands on his hips, “come swim with us!” 

“No thanks,” Virgil said, scowling up at him. 

“Oh, what’s the point of coming down here if you’re not going to swim?” Roman asked. Then he smirked at Virgil and put his hands on his hips, a mischievous glint in his eyes. “I bet you can’t beat me in a race.” 

Virgil rolled his eyes. “Why would I want to race you Princey?” 

“Because you know I’d win.” 

Damn him. 

“You’re too much muscle. You’d sink,” Virgil said, knowing full well that wasn’t how physics worked. The insult sounded nice to him, though. 

Roman frowned at him. “You’re clearly just intimidated by my fantastic body and therefore don’t want to embarrass yourself by losing to me.” 

“Don’t try to sound smart, it doesn’t look good on you.” 

Roman gasped dramatically. “How dare you! Everything looks good on me!”

Virgil smirked and rolled his eyes. “Keep telling yourself that Princey.” 

“I feel like I’m watching a disaster in slow motion,” someone—probably Rose—muttered. Virgil hadn’t seen her get out, but when he glanced over he saw Rose and Patton standing off to the side. 

“At least they’re talking,” Patton muttered to her. 

“Admit it,” Roman said. “You’re too scared you’ll be beaten by me. I am the best after all.” 

Virgil curled his fingers into fists and got up. “You know what Princey? You’re on, and I’m going to beat your smug ass at your own game.” 

Roman grinned triumphantly. “Then we shall race!” 

Damn him and his dumb smugness and his stupid shit-eating grin and…and…

Virgil completely fell for it. 

He glanced over at Rose and Patton, who looked highly amused and like they were trying not to laugh. Rose caught his eye and shrugged, wearing a smirk that matched Roman’s. 

Damned siblings. 

Virgil walked down the dock and jumped into the lake beside Roman. Behind them, their friends had all gathered. Alyssa, Cassie, and Travis having noticed them and swam over to see what was going on. 

“Decided to join us Verge?” Alyssa called. 

“Decided to wipe the smugness off of Roman’s face,” Virgil said back. 

“Ooohhh a race!” Cassie said. “I call racing the winner!” 

“No worries, Cas, you can get your revenge on me soon,” Roman said with a wink, making Cassie roll her eyes and Alyssa bite back a smile. 

Th two boys lined themselves up, and Cassie counted down for them to start. When she got to zero, though, Virgil quickly splashed Roman before hurling his body forward to start swimming. 

It didn’t take long for Roman to catch up to him, though Virgil was not one to let something like this go. He pushed himself like he’d never done before just to stay ahead of the asshole. 

In the end, though, Roman still won, but just by a hair. 

“Ha!” Roman says, shoving his hair out of his eyes. “I won even after you cheated!” 

Virgil shrugged. “It was worth a shot.” He glanced at Roman, who was still grinning triumphantly, before sending a big wave his way. 

Roman’s head whipped towards him, though Virgil tried to look nonchalant. “You little…” Roman grumbled, splashing Virgil back. 

“Hey!” Virgil exclaimed. He couldn’t help the fact that he was laughing a little. 

They continued their splash fight, their friends at this point having swam away to get away from it. Eventually, though, Roman held up his hands. “Alright! Alright! I concede!” 

“Ha, never thought I’d hear that from you,” Virgil says. Now he was the one with the triumphant smile. Roman makes a face at him before turning around to search for where their friends had gone. 

Looking around, Virgil saw that Patton and Logan were sitting on a dock a few yards away, their feet dangling in the water. Cassie and Alyssa were swimming with some of their other friends, Travis among them. They seemed to be playing some kind of game involving a beach ball. 

Suddenly, Roman whirled around. “Ow! Virgil, dude, I know I beat you in the race but that doesn’t mean you need to pinch me!” 

Virgil blinks and look back at him. “What are you talking about?” 

Roman scowls. “Something just pinched me.” 

“Wasn’t me,” Virgil says. “I’m over here, you would’ve—OW!” Virgil whirled around, trying to see what had pinched him. The water wasn’t exactly the cleanest, so it was a little hard to see. Virgil could feel the current around him though, like something was swimming around him. “Uhhh, Roman there aren’t piranhas in this lake are there?” 

“Nonsense,” Roman says, “they wouldn’t let us in the lake if there were.” 

Virgil felt another sharp pain in his side, and this time he felt the fingers as they twisted his skin. Panicking, he shoved at the hand that was near him. He glanced over at Roman, but he was still a few feet away, looking concerned. “It’s a person.” 

Roman’s eyes widen in understanding and he swims closer to Virgil, reaching out as if to grab Virgil’s hand, then seemed to think better of it. “Come on we should get to—” Roman yelped and Virgil quickly followed as he felt someone grab onto his leg and pull him under. 

Twisting to try and get out of this person’s grip, Virgil looked around to see who was pulling him down. He couldn’t say that he was surprised to see Frank glaring at him, an iron tight grip on his ankle. 

What the hell? Was he trying to drown Virgil? Was he that angry at Virgil? How did he even get over here without anyone noticing? 

Another pair of hands grabbed onto him, yanking on his shirt. Virgil tried to twist out of their grip, but between desperately kicking at Frank and his shirt being literally ripped off of him, and the lack of air, he was starting to get really disoriented. 

Something sharp and painful scraped against his chest and he gasped instinctively, sucking in water that he immediately tried to cough out. He felt the panic overtake him and he struggled more, his body screaming for air. 

Suddenly there were arms wrapping around him, yanking him out of Franks grip and pulling him to the surface. For a moment Virgil wasn’t sure what was happening, all he cared about was getting air back into his lungs. Before he knew it, he was being dragged onto shore and lied down on his back. He was coughing, his body trying to expel as much water as possible. 

“Virgil! Virgil can you hear me?” this was Roman, leaning over him with a panicked face. Virgil pushed him out of his personal space, propping himself up on his elbow, still coughing. 

Someone slapped him on the back, which hurt slightly now that his skin was bare. Once he could breathe again, he looked up. His roommates were all kneeling around him, all of them looking concerned. Alyssa, Cassie, Travis, and Rose were standing above them, glaring at anyone who tried to come close to them to see what was going on. Thomas was kneeling over him, looking like he was on the verge of crying. 

“Oh my goodness, Virgil, are you okay?” his counselor asks checking him over. His eyes land on Virgil’s chest and they widen. 

Looking down, Virgil could see the healing bruise as well as some newer ones forming, but there was also a red scratch across his chest, a thin line of blood coming from it. 

Thomas just stared at the injuries for a moment, then he pursed his lips. “Virgil, are you okay?” he asks is a more calm and gentle voice, one that unnerved both Virgil and the other boys around him. 

“Y-Yes,” Virgil stutters, pushing himself to a sitting position. 

Thomas nods. “Good. You three, get back to the cabin,” he points to Roman, Logan, and Patton. “You,” he looks at Virgil, “come with me to the infirmary so that scratch doesn’t get infected.” 

None of the boys argued. Patton helped Virgil to his feet, then gave him a small hug before following Roman and Logan towards their cabin. 

“Virgil…” Cassie starts, but Thomas puts a hand on Virgil’s shoulder.

“Your counselors will take you back to your cabins,” Thomas says. “You should go find them.” 

Hearing the dismissal, the other campers nodded and, after giving Virgil a mixture of concerned and supportive looks, they went to do as Thomas says. 

“Come on Virgil,” Thomas says, leading Virgil away from the lake.


End file.
